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Y   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY 


'Y   OF   CALIFORNIA 


LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY 


TY   OF   CALIFORNIA         LIBRARY    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


TY   OF   CALIFORNIA         LIBRARY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 
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OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS, 
AND  WORDS. 


OLD    SEA  WINGS,  WAYS, 
.     AND  WOEDS, 


IN  THE  DAYS   OF  OAK   AND   HEMP. 


BY 


EOBEET    C.   LESLIE 


OF  TH* 

UNIVERSITY 


WITH  135  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


LONDON  :    CHAPMAN  AND   HALL,   LIMITED. 

1890. 


V 


732. 


; 


PREFACE. 

IT  was  in  December,  1884,  that  I  received  the  following 
kind  words  of  encouragement  from  Mr.  Euskin,  about 
some  sketches  and  notes  upon  old  ships,  boats,  sails, 
and  rigging :- 

"  MY  DEAR  LESLIE, 

"  I  never  saw  anything  half  so  delightful 
or  useful  as  these  compared  sails  so  easily  explained. 
Do  set  yourself  at  this  with  all  your  mind  and  time 
on  this  plan.  It  will  be  the  most  refreshing  thing  to 
me  to  take  it  up  with  you  I  could  possibly  have. 

"  Ever  your  grateful, 

"  J.  EUSKIN." 

Since  then,  I  have  been  collecting  material,  and 
working  in  this  same  direction ;  and  in  1887  I  sent 
an  illustrated  article  to  Messrs.  Harper  Brothers, 
which  appeared  in  the  August  number  of  their  maga- 
zine for  that  year. 

b 


VI  PREFACE. 

I  have  to  thank  Messrs.  Harper  for  allowing  this 
article  to  be  incorporated  with  the  present  work. 
Most  of  it  has  however  been  entirely  rewritten  and 
rearranged,  with  much  additional  matter.  In  treating 
a  subject  of  such  vast  dimensions  as  the  build  and 
rig  of  the  ships  and  boats  of  the  past,  I  have  found 
it  quite  impossible  to  do  so  in  a  modern,  exhaustive, 
or  even  in  a  systematic  way ;  so  that,  to  use  a  family 
motto,  I  have  merely  tried  to  "grip  fast  "  or  hold  on 
to  those  few  facts  which,  during  many  years  devoted 
to  the  study  of  marine  stores,  I  have  chanced  to  fall 
in  with,  in  reading,  painting,  or  travelling,  or  from 
observation  and  experience  afloat,  or  when  at  work 
among  practical  boat-builders  in  the  boat-yard,  build- 
ing, repairing,  or  fitting  out  my  own  boats. 

Writing  upon  such  a  technical  subject  it  has 
been  impossible  to  avoid  using  much  of  the  old-sea 
language ;  but  in  doing  so  I  have,  whenever  I  could, 
tried  to  point  out  how  such  terms  originated,  and 
their  connection  with  similar  ones  in  use  on  shore. 

ROBERT  C.  LESLIE. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

ife  afloat  among  the  ancients,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages,  pro- 
bably not  so  far  behind  that  of  shore  life  as  we  are  apt  to 
think — Want  of  reliable  records  of  sea^life  and  shipping  of 
the  past— The  sea,  and  those  that  go  upon  it,  more  conser- 
vative than  the  land  and  landsmen — The  life  of  the  old 
shipman  more  distinct  from  that  of  life  ashore  than  to-day 
— Old  sea-going  craft  a  floating  part  of  their  country  more 
than  now,  etc.— Steel  spars  and  wire  rigging,  and  their 
effect  upon  the  modern  seaman—"  The  sweet  little  cherub," 
etc.,  no  longer  wanted  ... 


CHAPTER  IL 

StiA    WINGS— THl!    SQUARE    AND   LUG    SAILS    OF   THE    NORTHMEN,    ETC. 

ifficulty  of  finding  anything  satisfactorily  explained  in  an 
Encyclopaedia  about  sails— Spencer's  definition  of  a  sail — 
An  early  form  of  sea  wing — -The  flying*proah — -Tbe  Chinese 
junk  —  Squaresailsj  courses,  or  "pacfi"  —  A  maincourse 
and  details — The  bowline— Lugsails,  Deal  boats,  etc. — A 
Norwegian  squaresail— The  bilandre  and  Yorkshire  billy- 
boy 


11 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    GIBBOUS    OR   TRUE    SAIL-WING   OF    THE    SOUTH. 

Leading  edge  and  after  leech  of  a  sail-  wing  —  "  Cut  of  his  jib  :  " 
a  good  old  maxim  —  Lifting  power  of  jib  —  Gybing  —  Tran- 
sition rig  —  The  ketch,  origin  of  the  term  —  The  bomb-ketch, 


viii  CONTENTS. 


French  and  English — The  old  lateen-mizzen — "Bagpipe 
the  mizzeii  " — Crojacks  and  spankers — Origin  of  forward 
rake  of  foremast — Bowsprits,  spritsail-yards,  and  topmasts  ; 
value  of  them  and  the  spritsail  in  action,  boarding,  etc. — 
The  origin  of  the  jack  staff 26 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    FULL-RIGGED    SHIP. 

Old  three-masters — The  polacca — A  Genoese  carrack — The 
lateen-yard — The  strength  of  the  pine — Mast-building — 
The  old  French  chasse-maree — Beer  Head  boats— Beaching 
them — Clench  and  carvel  work — Brixham  trawlers — Clench 
boat-building — The  "Portaferry  frigate" — Origin  of  the 
term  "  On  the  stocks  " — Boat-building  by  machinery — 
Boats  for  Arab  shooting,  or  for  ascending  or  shooting  the 
Nile  cataracts  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  40 


CHAPTER  V. 

LOXG   AND    SHOET    SAIL-PIKIONS. 

Kile  boat  and  the  Dutch  eel-schuyt — Clipped  sail-wings — 
Lugsails  of  the  Adriatic — Hudson  River  sloop — Lazy-lines 
and  squalls  on  the  Hudson — Rochelle  cutter — Her  net — 
Stone  trawl-heads — Rochester  bawley-boat — The  old  king's 
cutter — Her  dimensions,  spars,  etc. — Modern  racing  yacht 
— Limit  of  lead  and  leverage — The  America  and  Squire 
Weld  —  American  yachts  and  pilot-boats  —  Fit  of  their 
canvas — The  Henrietta — Tidal  seas  and  English  yachts 
— The  centre-board — The  inventor  of  it — The  Lady  Nelson 
centre-board  store-ship — Rudders  below  keel  in  Venetian 
craft  and  Yorkshire  cobles  ...  54 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WHERRY-BUILT   BOATS, 

Probably  of  Norse  origin — The  Portsmouth  and  Ryde  wherry 
— The  old  bumboat,  etc. — Norfolk  wherry — Yoke  steering 


CONTENTS.  iX 

PAGE 

gear,  etc — Spritsails — The  London  barge — Her  rig,  lee- 
boards,  and  sail-rudder — Antiquity  of  the  Thames  barge — " 
A  thirteenth-century  ship  ...  ...  ...  ...  .,.  74 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  UP   TO    THE    SEA,"    ETC. 

Dutch  fishing-boats  at  Scheveningen  —  Italian  lake  -  craft : 
their  rudders,  and  those  of  Rhine  boats— The  "timoneer" 
—  Rig  and  sail  of  lake-craft,  "robands,"  etc.:  their  low 
bow— The  Arab  dhow — St.  Paul's  ship — -Slavers,  etc.— A 
Baltimore  clipper — The  ten-gun  brigs — Distinction  between 
the  true  brig,  or  brigantine,  and  snow  —  The  English 
experimental  brig,  Flying-fish — The  end  of  British  naval 
sailing  seamanship — H.M.S.  steam-frigate  Firebrand  ...  87 


CHAPTER  VIII, 

ORIGIN   OF    THE    CUTTER. 

The  only  safe  way  of  learning  to-day  much  about  the  rig  of 
ancient  shipping — Southern  origin  of  the  cutter-rig — The 
Brighton  hoggy — The  'old  Itchen  Ferry  rig — Advantages  of 
the  cutter-rig — American  cutters,  etc.— The  modern  yawl 
— The  true  yawl  or  dandy — Drawbacks  to  the  fore-and-aft 
rig,  with  the  -exception  of  the  lateen-rig  and  French 
lugger,  for  sea-going  ships  ...  ..,  ...  ...  ...  104 

CHAPTER  IX. 

UNDER   SAIL   AND    OAR, 

An  eighteenth-century  galley — -Arrangement  of  her  benches 
and  oars  for  development  of  man-power  —  Comparison 
between  it  and  modern  horse- power  of  nineteenth-century 
war-ship — The  carrosse,  or  captain's  cabin,  origin  of  the 
"  coach  "  of  our  old  ships — Rig  of  a  galley  described — A 
suggestion — Decorations,  etc. — The  galley's  offspring,  the 
eighteenth-century  galley-built  corvette — Mode  of  attack 


CONTENTS. 

PAGF 

by  galley,  the  origin  of  the  importance  attached  by  our  old 
seamen  of  always  getting  and  retaining  the  weather  gauge 
of  an  enemy — A  sixteen th-century  sea-fight,  etc.  ...  ...  114 


CHAPTER  X. 

v 

FIGURE-HEAPS. 

"Old  Friends  "—Figure-heads  ashore,  on  and  off  duty — Heads 
of  "Fighting  Temeraire"  and  Victory— The  Temeraire  at 
Trafalgar,  and  towed  to  her  last  berth— Turner's  accuracy 
in  certain  details  in  this  picture — The  anatomy  of  a  sea- 
going ship's  beak-head,  etc.— An  early  type  of  true  stem — 
The  upright  American  axe-bow — The  old  frigate  bow,  some 
advantages  and  drawbacks  of  it— Bowsprit  gammoning — 
A  naval  figure-head  out  of  place— From  the  eye  of  the 
Chinese  junk  to  the  highly  developed  human  eighteenth- 
century  figure-head,  etc,  ...  ,,.  ,,.  ...  ...  131 


CHAPTER  XL 
FIGURE-HEADS  (continued). 

Strange  head  of  New  Zealand  war-canoe — How  did  it  get  there  ? 
— The  old  rampant  lion-head — "  The  lion's  whelps  " — "  The 
sweep  of  the  lion " — A  Frenchman's  description  of  and 
objection  to — A  Yankee  skipper's  objection — An  equestrian 
figure-head,  and  its  connection  with  the  fate  of  Charles  I. 
— The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas — Her  knight-heads,  apostles, 
and  cat-heads — Career  and  fate  of  this  ship — A  later 
equestrian  head,  the  Royal  George — Why  she  was  lost — 
Coloured  figure-heads  of  old  war-ships — A  figure-head  laid 
up  in  ordinary — Figure-heads  and  their  removable  limbs 
in  action — The  modern  steamer's  geographical  head — The 
respectable  nineteenth- century  merchantman's  head — A 
very  humble  little  lady-head — A  revival  of  her  in  other 
forms  among  yachts,  etc. — Figure-head  in  repose  ...  ...  146 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  XII, 

OLD    SEA-LIGHTS. 

PAOM 

The  sea-chandelier  —  Great  size  of  early  poop-lanterns,  and 
reason  for  it  —  Importance  of  the  ship-chandler  and  art  of 
candle-making  to  old  seamen—  Night-signal  at  Battle  of 
the  Nile  —  Rodney's  night-action  off  St.  Vincent,  and  naval 
manoeuvres  in  1781  —  Code  of  old  naval  night-signals  — 
How  St.  George's  Channel  was  lighted  a  hundred  and  forty 
years  back  —  Between-decks  and  below  in  the  cock-pit 
during  a  night-action,  etc.  .,,  ...  .,,  ...  ...  164 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE     OLD     SHIP-FARM, 


A  luxurious  voyage  about  the  Cape  in  1682— A  New  York 
packet-ship's  long-boat  forty  years  ago — The  old  sea-cow — 
Stock  not  always  home-fed  at  sea— Great  value  of  the  pig 
as  sea-farm  stock,  and  superiority  of  ship-fed  pork— The 
goat  and  his  appetite  on  board  ship— Naval  model  sea-farm 
— Poultry  bred  at  sea-— A  crowing  hen — Boot  crops  in  the 
lower  hold,  and  other  crops  in  the  jolly-boat  ...  ...  1 76 


CHAPTER   XIV, 

OLD    GROUND-TACKLE. 

From  hemp  and  sails  to  chain  and  steam — A  lost  art — Keeping 
a  clear  hawse — Size  and  weight  of  old  hemp  cables — The 
old  wooden-stocked  anchor — Some  advantages  of  it — A 
ship's  "  manger,"  and  what  she  disposed  of  in  it — A  foul 
anchor  —  Two  round  turns  in  the  hawse  —  Consequent 
troubles — "  The  bitter  end  " — Anchoring  under  sail  and 
steam — Big  and  little  ships  as  roadsters — Dragging,  etc. 
— Proceedings  on  board  Lord  Anson's  ship,  Centurion, 
anchored  off  the  island  of  Tinian — Wind  against  tide — 
Pooped  by  her  long-boat — Drives  to  sea  with  three  cables 
hanging  in  her  hawse,  etc.  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  18-t 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

EARLY   NAVIGATORS   AND    THEIR    NAUTICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 

I'AGE 

An  early  training  college  for  young  gentlemen  at  Wapping 
New  Stairs — The  whole  art  of  navigation  as  taught  there 
by  Joshua  Kelly,  mariner — Domestic  navigation — A  Dutch 
picture  of  sea-bottom — Five  ways  of  finding  the  longitude 
— A  sand  clock — Its  chimes — Making  eight  bells — "  Flog- 
ging the  clock  "  or  glass — One  that  was  never  flogged, 
painted  for  us  by  Mr.  Hogarth — A  good  rule  for  all  master- 
mariners — The  old  binnacle — Captain  Cook's  compass — 
Davis's  quadrant  —  The  cross-staff  —  A  star  clock  —  A 
frigate's  day's  work  at  sea  in  1742 — The  traverse-board  ...  200 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE     BLACK     X     LINER. 

Security  of  the  Atlantic  passage  between  Bristol  and  New  York 
150  years  back — An  extinct  skipper  and  his  ship — A  popu- 
lar and  lucky  captain — His  precautions  against  fire — Use- 
ful passengers,  mercenary  seamen,  and  ungrateful  owners 
— A  steerage  passage  —  Sleeping  and  cooking  arrange- 
ments, etc.  ...  ,.,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  216 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

FROM    THE    ST.    KATHARINE    DOCKS    TO    THE    DOWNS    FIFTY   TEARS    AGO. 

Definition  of  a  packet — The  dock  quay  on  sailing  day — Those 
who  live  by  seeing  ships  out  of  dock — Temperance  ships — 
Christian  knowledge  and  crime — Their  diffusion  and  emi- 
gration— Latter-day  Saint  and  ship-chandler — Sound  and 
motion — "  Any  more  for  the  shore  ?  " — Too  late — In  tow- 
Brought  up  in  the  Lower  Hope — A  very  quiet  night—- 
Under way  again — Topsails  versus  steam — The  pride  of  the 
morning — Feeling  the  way  over  the  flats — A  freshening 
breeze  —  Ready  about  —  To  windward  through  the  Gull 
Stream  into  the  Downs  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  230 


CONTENTS.  xiii 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    PILOT. 

PAG  F. 

A  Channel  letter-box — A  man  found  at  sea — Pleasant  flavour 
of  the  land  about  him— The  pilot's  hat— Sad  Old- World 
prejudices  of  a  through-and-out  Trinity  pilot — A  pilot's 
fare  and  lot  not  all  cakes  and  ale— Aversion  of  pilot  to  long 
walks  and  short  naps— Blind  faith  of  passengers  in  him — 
The  pilot  as  a  man  of  business  on  the  Stock  Exchange, 
etc.— Examiners  examined— Weakness  and  mannerism  of 
elderly  pilots— Foreign  pilots — A  French  and  Yankee  one 
— Modern  pilot's  risks  and  work — The  old  rule  of  the 
road  at  sea— Pleasures  of  the  starboard  tack— Sailing  in 
convoy,  etc.  .,,  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  244 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    WINGLESS    WAR-SHIP   OF    THE    FUTURE,  AND  THOSE    IN    CHARGE 

OF    HER. 

seaman's  workshop— His  tools,  etc.— The  old  definition  of 
seamanship — -Soldiers  and  sailors  compared  as  firemen — 
Sea-legs  required  for  work  upon  a  modern  mastless  war- 
ship—An old  one,  and  how  she  behaved — How  France 
will  always  command  a  good  and  constant  supply  of  ready- 
made  sailor-men— The  naval  officer  of  the  future  as  a  pro- 
tection of  our  sailing  merchantmen — "  Lame  ducks,"  or 
broken-down  steamships  under  canvas — Stokers  and  fire- 
men as  a  boat's  cre\v — A  prize-master  in  the  hands  of  his 
prisoners  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  256 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AN  ALPHABETICALLY-ARRANGED  LIST  OF  SEA-TERMS,  SOME  OF  WHICH, 
THOUGH  OBSOLETE  AS  TO  THEIR  MEANING  AFLOAT,  ARE  STILL 
.USED  ASHORE  267 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Front  Door,  or  Entry  Port,  of  18th-Century  Ship          5 

Poor  Jack             ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  9 

Sea-urchin's  Ship      ...          ...          ...          ...          ...           ..          ...  10 

Flying  Proah  (Friendly  Islands)           12 

Chinese  Junk             ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  14 

Lateen-foresail,  with  Sheet  forward 16 

Windward  Side  of  Ship's  Mainsail            ...          ...          ...          ...  16 

Lee  Side  of  Ship's  Mainsail      17 

Scotch  Skiff,  whole  Sail,  Macaroni  Lug    ...          ...          ...          ...  17 

Scotch  Skiff,  Sail  reefed,  Macaroni  Lug         ...          ...          ...  18 

Deal  Galley-punt      21 

Norwegian  Coaster         ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          . .  23 

Flemish  Bilandre       24 

Yorkshire  Billy-boy        ...          ...  25 

Bird's  Wing 27 

Jib  cut  for  making          ...          ...          ...          ...                       ...  28 

Transition  Rig  between  Lateen  and  Square  Sails            ...          ...  30 

Man-of-war  Ketch           31 

French  Bomb-ketch  laid  Head  to  Wind, under  Mizzen-topsail  ...  32 

Old  Frigate,  with  Lateen-mizzen         33 

Mizzen  " bagpiped "             ...          ...          ...  34 

Bowsprit  and  Spritsail  on  a  Wind       36 

Spritsail-topmast,  16th  and  17th  Centuries          37 

Boarding-axe       ...          39 

Squaresails,  18th  and  17th  Centuries        41 

Staysails,  18th  and  17th  Centuries  41 


XVI  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Lines  and  Timbers  of  French  Corvette     ... 

French  Corvette,  18th  Century  

Polacca-rigged  Bark  ... 

Genoese  Carrack,  or  Carrick 
Section  at  Deck  of  made  Mast,  and  Mast  showing  Hoops  and 

Rope  Wooldings   ... 
Norman  Chasse-maree     .. 
Beer  Head  Fishing-boat 
Boat-builder's  Old  Hammer     ... 
First  Stage  of  Clench-built  Boat,  on  Stocks 
Dahabeeyah  of  the  Nile 
Channel  Island  Boat  ...          ,.,          ...          ...          .•- 

Coaster  of  North  Adriatic 

Dutch  Sloop 

Hudson  River  Sloop 

Rochelle  Trawler  (West  France) 

Rochester  Bawlej-boat 

Old  King's  Cutters 

King's  Cutter  on  the  Stocks 

Yacht  Henrietta        

Venetian  Craft,  with  Rudder  going  below  Line  of  Keel 

Old  Portsmouth  Wherry     

Norfolk  Wherry  

Topsail  Thames  Barge          

Barge,  with  Sail  reduced  by  Brails,  or  Sixty  Tons  of  Bricks,  in  a 

Squall 8: 

Some  14th-Century  Ships  (as  usually  drawn  for  us)      ...          ...        8-! 

Scheveningen  Boat         ...       -  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  8£ 

Italian  Lake-craft  (Como) 91 

Rhine  Barge  Rudder  and  Tiller,  also  Rudder  of  Boat  on  Lake 

Constance 

Side-slung  Rudder  on  Lake  Isao     ... 
Arab  Dhow 
Piratical  Chinese  Junk 

Smuggling  Junk  ...  

Baltimore  Clipper  or  Slaver  

True  Brig  of  1780 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  xvii 

PAGE 

H.M.  Brig  Flying-fi*h                                                                      ...  101 

H.M.  Steain-frigate  Firebrand  102 

Lateener,  with  Sail  "  abidot  "                                    ...                       ...  106 

Brighton  Hoggy ...          ...                                   ...  106 

Old  Itchen  Ferry  Boat  108 

Dandy-rig             ...          ...          ...          ...  Ill 

18th  and  17th  Century  Wai-galley            115 

Half-deck  Plan  of  Galley,  showing  Arrangement   of  Benches; 

also  Stern  View,  and  Two  Half-sections            ...          ...  116 

Oar  of  Galley       ...                      ...                      117 

Galley's   Shroud,    with    Toggle    Connections    between    it    and 

Deadeye           ...                      121 

Galley-built  Corvette           ...                      126 

Armed  Xebec,  Spanish  or  Arab,  of  18th  and  17th  Centuries  127 
Xebec  with  Sails   "  en  Oreilles   de   Lievre  "   (Hare's   Ears,  or 

Goose-winged)       ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  130 

"  Old  Friends."     From  a  Drawing  by  H.  Stacy  Marks,  R.A.  132 

Head  of  "  Fighting  Temeraire"  (Turner's),  a  98-gun  Ship       ...  134 

Head  of  Victory  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  135 

Head  of  18th  and  17th  Century  War^galley,  with   Half-deck 

Plan  of  the  Same 137 

Head  of  Greek  War-galley  (Old  Coin)                       ...  138 
Bow  of  18th^Centnry  Line-of-battle  Ship  on  the  Stocks,  before 

the  addition  of  the  Beak-head 139 

Decoration  on  Stem  of  Ram-bowed  Ironclad  ...          ...          ...  139 

Early  Egyptian  Boat,  with  Lotus  Stem  at  either  End    ...          ...  140 

Figure-head  of  H.M. S«  Warrior           ...                      ...  143 

Figure-head  of  Jupiter  (French  28-gun  Ship)      ...                      ...  144 

Head  of  New  Zealand  War-canoe        ...          ...          ...          ...  147 

One  of  the  Lion's  Whelps ...  148 

Lion-head,  18th  Century,  French        ...  149 

English  Frigate-head,  18th  Century          ...  150 

Sovereign  of  the   Seas,  1637.      From  a  Drawing  by  the  elder 

Vandervelde          152 

Head  of  Eoyal  George,  1756      155 

Trafalgar,  190  Guns.    Lord  Nelson  housed           ...                      ...  158 

Figure-heads  in  Action  ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  160 


XVlll  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGK 

A  19th-century  Ruler1  of  the  Waves  ...          . , 161 

Figure-head  of  Collier  Brig            „ ,          . ; 162 

Figure-head  in  Repose  (Tom  Tug)      163 

Arrangement  of  17th-Century  Poop-lantei'ns      ...          ...          ...  165 

Night-signal  Lanterns,  Battle  of  the  Nile      ...          ...          ...  167 

An  Old  Lighthouse  ...          .,.          ...                      ...                      ...  172 

Light-rooms  and  Magazine        ...          ..;          .<.          ...          ...  174 

Deck  Farm-buildings,  etc.,  on  board  New  York  Packet,  1840  ...  178 

Frigate's  Cable-tier,  etc.             186 

Old  Wooden-stocked  Anchors  lying  in  State       *.,          187 

Brig  riding  in  the  Downs          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  193 

Centurion  riding  in  Gale  off  the  Island  of  Tiiiian.            ...          ...  197 

Master-mariner  Costume  of  1740         ...          ...          , 201 

Old  Sea-clock           ...         205 

Old  Binnacle 208 

Captain  Cook's  Compass     ...          ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  209 

Figure  with  Davis's  Quadrant              ...          ...          ...          ...  210 

Cross-staff,  and  Manner  of  Using 210 

Ring-dial,  or  Astrolabe      ...  212 

The  Nocturnal ...          ...          212 

Traverse-board    ...           215 

Black  X  Line  of  Packet  at  Sea ...  219 

Steerage  Cooking-galley            225 

Ship  in  Tow  of  Thames  Tug           236 

Light  Colliers  dropping  down  with  Last  of  Ebb      ...          ...  237 

Heaving  the  Lead    ...          ...          ...          ...          ...                      tlt  241 

French  Pilot-boat           ...          ...          ...  253 

Dutch  Sailor  on  his  Narrow* backed  Horse           258 

Skiff  of  Duck-pond        266 

An  Adze,  or  Addice              . , :          ...                      ,,.  268 

Anchor  and  Parts  OAQ 

...          ...          ...  &\jij 

Carved  Belfry           ...          . , .          ...  274 

Bowline-knot       .  ;i          ...          ...          tll          ...  278 

Capstan,  with  Bars j  etc ;       ,.          ...          ...          ...  281 

A  Carrick-bend  ...          ...          ...  281 

Cartridge-box            ...          ...          ...          ...  282 

The"  Coach "     ...  284 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  xix 

PACK 

Ship's  Stern,  Counter,  etc.  (Vandervelde)            287 

A  Dogger             289 

Pole-mast,  Top,  and  Garlands         ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  295 

Outside  of  Old  Top-gallant  Forecastle            297 

Ship  scudding  under  Goose- winged  Foresail        ...          ...          ...  298 

Palm,  or  Sailor's  Thimble         310 

Sheep-shank  Knot - 317 


OF  TSB 

NIVERSIT 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

INTEODUCTORY. 

Life  afloat  among  the  ancients,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages,  probably  not 
so  far  behind  that  of  shore  life  as  we  are  apt  to  think — Want  of 
reliable  records  of  sea-life  and  shipping  of  the  past — The  sea,  aud 
those  that  go  upon  it,  more  conservative  than  the  land  and  lands- 
men— The  life  of  the  old  shipman  more  distinct  from  that  of  life 
ashore  than  to-day — Old  sea-going  craft  a  floating  part  of  their 
country  more  than  now,  etc. — Steel  spars  and  wire  rigging,  and 
their  effect  upon  the  modern  seaman — "  The  sweet  little  cherub," 
etc.,  no  longer  wanted. 

THE  nautical  antiquary  has  very  little  in  the  shape  of 
ruin  (restored  or  otherwise)  to  help  him  in  the  study 
of  the  sea-castles,  homes,  and  ways  of  the  men  whose 
business  was  upon  the  great  waters  of  old ;  and  we 
know  to-day  rather  more  about  the  structure  of  some 
pre-Adamite  oyster,  or  of  the  wings  of  an  extinct  lizard, 
than  we  do  of  the  build  of  hull,  or  cut  of  sail,  of  those 
ships  of  Tarshish  and  others  spoken  of  in  the  Bible, 
but  which  seem  to  have  been  making  regular  over- sea 
voyages  even  before  the  days  of  King  Solomon. 


I 


2  OLD  SEA   WINGS,    WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Modern  life  afloat  is  too  full  of  bustle  and  anxiety  to 
afford  our  sailors  time  to  think  about  or  study  the  ways 
and  craft  of  the  seamen  of  the  past ;  while  landsmen 
are  often  wanting  in  that  technical  knowledge  which 
alone  enables  any  one  to  describe  clearly  the  details 
and  meaning  of  the  very  few  ancient  marine  stores  he 
may  fall  in  with. 

This  is  always  found  to  be  the  case  on  seeking  for 
real  information  or  instruction  in  books  or  pictures  on 
these  subjects,  which  are  the  work  of  men  not  actually 
connected  with  the  sea.  And  probably  it  is  owing  to 
this  that  we  know  so  little  of,  and  so  greatly  underrate, 
the  seamanship  of  the  men  by  whom,  and  seaworthi- 
ness of  the  craft  in  which,  the  commerce  of  the  world 
was  carried  on  long  before  the  fifteenth  century  ;  *  and 
that  it  is  historically  rather  the  fashion  to  think  that 
the  arts  of  naval  architecture,  navigation,  and  seaman- 
ship leapt  into  comparative  perfection  toward  the  close 
of  that  time. 

*  We  know  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  King  Athelstan,soon  after  he  was 
crowned,  in  the  year  925,  decreed  "  that  every  merchant  who  made 
three  voyages  to  the  Mediterranean  on  his  own  account,  should  be 
raised  to  honour  and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a  gentleman."  And  it 
is  quite  impossible,  supposing  these  to  have  been  mere  coasting 
voyages — which  for  many  reasons  is  not  likely — that  men  undertook 
them  in  craft  so  utterly  unshipshape  as  those  which,  even  to-day, 
are  pictorially  accepted  by  landsmen  when  describing  the  seafaring 
ways  of  a  far  later  date. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


Now  the  more  carefully,  by  the  help  of  such  light 
as  we  have  left,  we  examine  the  actual  progress  made 
in  these  arts  since  then,  or  up  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  more  certain  does  it  appear 
that  sea-life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  before  them,  could 
not  have  been  as  far  behind  that  of  life  ashore  as  we 
are  apt  to  think  it  was. 

Before  the  introduction  of  steam,  and  iron  ship- 
building, nothing  connected  with  the  great  conser- 
vative sea  or  its  service  moved  in  leaps  or  bounds  ;  and 
the  evolution  of  a  sea-going  ship,  even  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan period,  with  all  her  complication  of  masts,  sails, 
and  tackling,  must  have  required  a  longer  time  for  its 
development  than  has  elapsed  since  the  days  of  the 
Armada. 

We  have,  as  I  hope  to  show,  many  craft  yet  with 
us,  even  in  England,  which  are  still  able,  spite  of 
steam,  etc.,  to  hold  their  own  and  fulfil  their 
original  purpose  *  under  sail,  which  have  altered  little 
in  build  or  rig  for  the  last  three  or  four  hundred  years. 
And  it  is  only  fair  to  infer  that  vessels  so  well  contrived 


*  Since  writing  this,  I 
with  an  English  practical 
difficulties  he  had  met  with 
from  London  to  the  Paris 
loaded  them  all  on  board  i 
reached  Paris,  not  only  at  a 
time !  "—April,  1889. 


chanced  to  travel  from  Paris  to  Boulogne 

engineer,  who,  speaking  of  the  delay  and 

in  getting  certain  heavy  exhibits  conveyed 

Exhibition,  said,  "  The  fact  is,  if  I  had 

i  Thames  sailing-barge,  they  would  have 

cheaper  rate,  but  in  three  or  four  days'  less 


4  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

as  these  did  not  arrive  at  something  very  like  perfect- 
tion  in  a  day.  The  fact  is  that  all  those  having  real 
business  upon  the  sea  learn  to  distrust  innovation  ; 
the  phrase,  "  Move  with  the  times,"  has  almost  as  little 
meaning  for  them  as  it  has  for  the  sea  itself ;  and  with 
her  enemy  always  round  her,  a  ship  must  and  will 
ever  retain  much  of  the  character  of  an  old  feudal 
castle,  and,  so  far  as  the  sea  is  concerned,  stand  or  fall 
subject  to  the  same  laws  as  it  did ;  for  though  we  may 
have  oiled  for  a  few  minutes  the  crest  of  a  modern 
heal-sea  wave  into  some  barbaric  form  of  smoothness, 
we  have  never,  so  far,  been  able  to  improve  one  of 
them  off  the  face  of  the  sea. 

My  chief  object,  however,  in  the  following  pages, 
is  not  so  much  to  speculate  about  prehistoric  shipping 
and  its  seamen,  as  to  try  to  record,  or  hold  on  to,  some 
of  the  forms,  rigs,  and  ways  of  shipping  recently 
passed  away,  or  which,  though  still  remaining  among 
us,  are  rapidly  doing  so.  Before  the  days  of  steam 
and  iron  ships,  or  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  life  at  sea 
was  far  more  distinct,  as  a  way  or  manner  of  life,  from 
that  of  the  "  landman  "  than  it  is  now;  and  unless  a 
man  chance  to  be  the  skipper  and  part  owner  of  a 
Yorkshire  billy-boy,  or  a  Dutch  galliot,  it  is  not  easy 
for  even  a  master-mariner  of  to-day  to  realize  how 
much  more  a  ship  was  the  home  of  the  old  seafaring 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.          5 

man,  to  be  loved  and  lived  in,  than  she  is  to-day,  when 
voyages  that  were  reckoned  in   months  and  years,  are 


Front  door,  or  entry  port,  of  eighteenth-century  ship. 

measured  in  days  and  hours.     Nothing  speaks  of  this 
home-like  love  of  his  ship  more  than  the  affectionate 


6  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WOKDS, 

decoration  given  to  every  little  detail  of  their  craft  by 
the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  century 
sailors.  Iron  or  steel  hulls  do  not  certainly  lend  them- 
selves to  much  external  ornament,  but  with  a  view 
perhaps  of  softening  the  miseries  of  the  modern  short 
ocean  voyage,  or  of  catching  the  eye  of  a  passenger, 
the  inside  decorations  of  some  of  our  steamers,  as  to 
polish  and  upholstery,  may  vie  perhaps  with  that  of 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  century  ship.  We 
know,  however,  from  old  pictures,  and  a  few  models, 
something  of  the  outside  look  of  ships  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  century,  and  though  these  give 
nothing  to  guide  us  as  to  internal  fittings,  yet,  looking 
at  them  and  the  richly  decorated  homes  of  landsmen 
of  the  same  period,  it  is  safe  to  infer  that  the  cabins  of 
their  ships  were  not  wanting  either  in  ornament  or 
comfort.  The  very  word  "  state-room,"  still  given  to 
that  limited  form  of  comfort  and  sleeping  arrangement 
for  three  or  four  persons  on  board  a  modern  steamship, 
is  an  old  one,  like  the  word  "  saloon,"  "  salon,"  or 
"  dining-room,"  on  board  ship,  and  in  their  Spanish 
sense  both  words  were  probably  used  on  board  the 
great  galleons  of  the  Armada,  etc. 

In  many  old  Spanish  inns,  or  fondas,  all  the  sleeping- 
apartments  open  upon  a  long  salon,  lighted  only  at 
either  end;  and  the  first  idea  this  arrangement  suggests 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.          7 

is  that  of  some  old  ship's  saloon,  with  its  row  of  state- 
room doors  on  each  side,  the  low  pitch,  and  heavy 
beams  crossing  the  ceiling,  adding  greatly  to  this  ship- 
cabin  look  of  these  Spanish  inn  saloons ;  while  the 
rooms  opening  into  them  are  veritable  state-rooms, 
furnished  not  merely  as  sleeping-rooms,  but  as  the  state- 
rooms of  our  older  passenger-ships  were,  as  comfortable 
and  pleasantly  decorated  sitting-rooms.  For  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  days  of  the  old  East 
Indiamen,  passengers,  like  the  ships,  were  in  no  hurry. 
Men  did  not  actually  live  longer  then,  but  they  had 
more  time ;  and  a  voyage  was  not  looked  upon  as  so 
much  misery  to  be  endured,  or  time  to  be  got  through, 
but  as  another  form  of  life,  to  be  enjoyed  and  made  as 
pleasant  as  possible  while  it  lasted.  The  ship  was  a 
bit  of  Old  England  afloat,  where  the  passenger  rented 
for  so  many  months  a  well-lighted,  roomy,  unfurnished 
apartment,  which,  according  to  his  taste  and  means, 
he  fitted  up  for  the  voyage  with  numberless  comforts 
and  sea  stores  that  none  but  a  yachtsman  would  think 
of  cumbering  himself  with  at  sea  to-day ;  and,  reading 
narratives  of  these  old  long  sea-voyages,  one  is  con- 
stantly coming  across  expressions  of  regret  by  pas- 
sengers when  they  "  took  leave  "  of  the  good  ship  that 
for  so  many  months  had  been  their  floating  home. 

These  fine  old  passenger  sailing-ships  were,  like  a 


8  OLD   SEA   WINGS,    WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

man-of-war,  entirely  dismantled  at  the  end  of  each 
homeward  voyage,  and  underwent  a  complete  overhaul 
and  refit  before  starting  again  on  an  outward  one. 
Passengers  usually  sold  their  state-room  furniture  by 
auction  on  board  the  ship  upon  her  arrival  in  port. 

Steam  has  not,  happily,  so  far  entirely  banished 
the  use  of  sails  on  board  sea-going  ships.  But  the 
introduction  of  steel  spars  and  wire  rope  has  so  greatly 
changed  the  work,  not  only  of  fitting  out  but  of 
keeping  a  ship's  gear  in  repair  at  sea,  that  a  modern 
rigger,  working  among  iron  masts  and  yards,  supported 
by  steel-wire  shrouds  and  stays,  with  much  of  the 
running  rigging  of  chain,  has  far  more  of  the  smith 
or  engine-room  artificer  about  him  than  of  the  old 
seaman  rigger;  while,  the  greater  part  of  such  work 
being  now  done  in  port,  by  gangs  of  experts  from  on 
shore,  it  follows  that  few  of  the  hands,  even  on  board 
a  large  clipper  sailing-ship,  especially  Englishmen,  are 
now  able  even  to  turn  in  a  deadeye,  strop  a  block,  or 
point  a  rope,  in  the  old  "  ship-shape  Bristol  fashion." 

Some  of  this  old  "  seamanship,"  as  it  was  called, 
still  remains  among  our  coasters,  fishermen,  and 
yachtsmen,  as  it  does  among  the  Swedes  and  Nor- 
wegian seamen ;  though  even  with  them  wire  rigging 
is  fast  taking  the  place  of  hernp  in  their  smart  little 
pine-built  brigantines  and  barques.  Our  young  naval 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


9 


officers  and  blue-jackets  have  also  still  to  go  through  a 
course  of  instruction  in  such  work ; '  but,  like  schoolboys' 
Latin,  it  is  nearly  all  forgotten  a  few  years  after  leaving 
the  training-ship,  for  want  of  practice.  But  as  masts 
and  sails  are  condemned  as  useless  incumbrances  upon 
our  fighting-ships,  so  must  sail-drill,  the  use  of  the 
marling-spike  and  palm,  soon  become  things  of  the 


Poor  Jack. 

past,  and  a  time  arrive  when  "  the  sweet  little  cherub 
that  sat  up  aloft,  and  kept  a  watch  o'er  poor  Jack," 
will  find  no  resting-place  above  the  iron  hull  of  a  war- 
ship. 

Maybe,  however,  or  let  us  hope,  that  the  greatly 
improved  class  of  seamen  gunners,  engine-room  arti- 


10  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

ficers,  and  stokers,  by  whom  the  navy  of  the  coming 
century  is  to  be  manned,  will  be  as  much  better  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves  and  ships  afloat  without  him 
as  they  certainly  do  now  of  themselves  ashore,  com- 
pared with  the  Tom  Bowlings,  Pipes,  and  Hatchways 
of  the  last  century. 


Sea-urchin's  ship. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         11 


CHAPTEK  II. 

SEA    WINGS THE     SQUAKE     AND    LUG     SAILS     OF     THE 

NOETHMEN,  ETC. 

Difficulty  of  finding  anything  satisfactorily  explained  in  an  Encyclo- 
paedia about  sails — Spencer's  definition  of  a  sail — An  early  form 
of  sea  wing — The  flying-proah — The  Chinese  junk — Squaresails, 
courses,  or  "  pacfi  " — A  main  course  and  details — The  bowline 
— Lugsails,  Deal  boats,  etc. — A  Norwegian  squaresail — The 
bilandre  and  Yorkshire  billy-boy. 

UNDER  the  article  "  Sail,"  in  my  Encyclopaedia,  I  am 
told  that  "  the  principal  problem  connected  with  the 
motion  of  vessels  under  sail  on  the  water  has  for  its 
object  the  determination  of  the  resistance  between  the 
velocities  of  the  wind  and  of  the  vessel,  and  its  solution 
consists  in  finding  algebraic  expressions  for  those  pres- 
sures, and  making  them  equal  to  one  another,"  etc. 
The  mystery  of  the  way  of  a  ship  under  sail  having  been 
practically  solved  by  seamen  ages  before  modern  alge- 
braic formula  were  invented,  I  am  not  surprised  to  find 
in  the  next  sentence  that,  even  with  such  help,  "  many 
practical  difficulties  present  themselves  in  investigating 
that  relation."  When  unable  to  find  anything  worth 


12  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WOKDS, 

knowing  about  a  word  in  my  Encyclopaedia,  I  turn  to 
an  old  "  Johnson's  Dictionary,"  being  sure  of  finding 
something  there — however  little  that  something  may 
be — which  I  can  understand.  One  of  the  meanings 
given  there  to  the  word  "  sail "  is  "wing,"  Spencer 
being  referred  to  as  the  authority.* 


Flying-proah— Friendly  Islanda. 

I  fancy  the  first  pinacchio,  or  wing  of  the  kind, 
must  have  been  like  this  found  among  the  natives  of 

*  While  writing  this,  I  received  from  Mr.  Ruskin  a  wonderful 
model,  four  feet  in  length,  of  the  primary  quill  of  a  kestrel  hawk's 
wing;  by  striking  the  air  with  which  "one  learnt,"  he  said,  "practi- 
cally more  about,  and  realized  better,  the  actual  propulsive  force  of  a 
wing,  or  of  a  well-set  fore-and-aft  sail,  than  in  any  other  way ; "  for, 
in  waving  it  even  slowly  through  the  air,  this  model  feather  seemed 
to  lift,  or,  as  a  sailor  would  say,  "take  charge"  of  your  whole  arm 
and  hand.  The  model  (made  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Dawes,  naturalist,  etc., 
of  Denmark  Hill)  is  itself  quite  a  work  of  art,  beautifully  painted, 
so  as  to  give  the  colour,  as  well  as  the  sword-blade-like  form  and 
rigidity,  combined  with  lightness,  of  the  original  feather. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         13 

the  Friendly  Islands  by  the  Dutchman  Tasman,  when, 
unluckily  for  them,  he  first  sailed  their  way  in  1643. 

This  is  a  far  more  homely  form  of  proah  than  that 
described,  and  so  much  admired,  by  Captain  Woodes 
Rogers,   in    1710,   that    he    carried   one  to   London, 
"  thinking  it   might   be  worth   fitting   up   there  as  a 
curiosity  on  the  canal  in  St.  James's  Park ;"  and  of 
which  a  second  account,  with  drawings,  appeared  in 
"  Anson's  Voyage,"  thirty  years  afterwards.    But  though 
less  perfect  as  a  sailing-machine,  this  Friendly  Island 
proah  is  most  interesting  from  the  way  the  yard  is 
supported  by  a  mast  raking  forward,  like  the  "trin- 
chetto,"  or  foremast,  of  an  Italian  felucca.      The  fine 
race  of  sea-loving  men  of  these  islands  are,  I  believe, 
all  of  Malay  origin ;  and  as  the  lateen-sail  is  the  sail 
of  the  Indian  Ocean,  it  would  seem  to  have  travelled 
east  into  the  Pacific  through  the  Malay  Islanders,  and 
probably  west  toward  the  Mediterranean  up  the  Eed 
Sea,  via  the  Arab  dhow.     Among  the  more  northern 
Japanese  and  Chinese,  longer  masts  and  the  shorter 
yarded  higsails  are   found;    and   there  may  be  some 
connection  between  the  words  "lorcha"  and  "lugger." 
There  is  no   doubt,  however,  that  with    her  ribbed, 
dragon-like  sails,  heavy  rudder,  or  rather  exaggerated 
form  of  steering  oar,  held  in  place  and  controlled  by 
many  "  rudder  bands,"  her  strange  windlass  projecting 


14 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


outside  her  stem  (cathead  and  windlass  in  one),  this 
junk  of  China  is  one  of  the  oldest  links  left  between 
the  over-sea  ship  of  the  past  and  present.* 

It  is  rather  the  custom  to  underrate  Chinese  naval 
architecture ;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  look  upon  all  their 


Chinese  junk. 

vessels   as    unweatherly    craft,    or    dull    sailers;    and 
though  many  of  the  great  junks,  built  or  designed  for  a 

*  In  the  year  1690,  speaking  of  certain  barks  used  by  the  Chinese 
for  passing  dangerous  rapids  among  rocks,  Le  Compt  the  Jesuit  says, 
"  they  divide  them  into  five  or  six  apartments,  separated  by  good 
partitions,  so  that  when  they  touch  at  any  place  upon  a  point  of  rock, 
only  one  part  of  the  boat  is  fall,  whilst  the  others  remain  dry,  and 
give  time  to  stop  the  hole." 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.          15 

particular  trade,  in  which  they  make  use  of  the  regular 
monsoons,  are  not  of  much  account  except  in  a  fail- 
wind,  those  whose  duty  has  been  to  cruise  in  Chinese 
waters  know  well  enoiigh  that  they  often  meet  there 
piratical  junks,  smugglers,  and  fishing-boats,  which, 
like  the  Arab  dhow,  in  a  good  breeze  can — or  could  a 
few  years  ago — keep  their  distance  from  some  of  her 
Majesty's  steam  gun-boats. 

Koughly  speaking,  sails  are  all  either  squares  or 
triangles.  The  oldest  form  of  squaresails  are  those 
now  called  courses,  or  running  sails.  Originally  there 
were  but  two  of  these,  the  main  and  fore  course,  known 
among  old  French  seamen  as  "  le  grand  et  le  petite 
pacfi."  It  may  be  noted  here  that  the  lower  corners 
of  these  two  sails,  the  sheet  and  tack  clews — that  is, 
the  corners  to  which  the  ropes  called  tacks  and  sheets 
are  attached — practically  change  in  name  as  they 
change  in  position  each  time  a  ship  goes  about. 

With  four-sided  lugsails  this  is  not  the  case,  nor 
with  the  square  topsails  above  the  courses,  nor  with 
any  of  the  triangular  sails,  unless  the  sheet-clew  of 
a  lateen-foresail  may  be  called  the  tack-clew  when 
brought  forward  in  running  before  the  wind. 

The  two  sketches  of  a  maincourse,  with  some 
leading  ropes,  show  how  this  change  from  sheet  to 
tack  is  practically  carried  out ;  each  corner  or  clew 


16  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

being  divided  among  three   blocks — the    sheet,   tack, 
and  clewline  blocks. 

Compared  with  the  courses,  topsails  are  of  recent 


Lateen-foresail,  with  sheet  forward. 


Windward  side  of  mainsail. 

date,  and  when  square,  both  clews,  whether  used  to 
windward  or  leeward,  always  remain  topsail  sheet- 
clews  ;  from  which  it  appears  likely  that  the  original 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


17 


form   of   maincourse  was   set  and   used  as  a  lugsail, 
a  sail  which  varied  in  shape  from  nearly  square,  to  one 


Lee  side  of  mainsail. 

which,   when   close    reefed,    is    almost   a    lateen-sail. 
Some    lugs,   in    fact,   are   called  by   English    sailors 


Scotch  skiff,  whole  sail,  macaroni  lug. 

"  macaroni  lugs."     Perhaps,  however,   the  name  was 
given  to  this  sail  in  contempt,  as  easier  to  handle  than 

c 


18  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND  WOKDS, 

the  other  lugsails,  and  so  suited  to  a  macaroni  or  block- 
head ;  this  rig  is  also  known  as  a  French  or  standing 
lug,  and  among  us  as  the  balanced  lug. 

Besides  the  tacks  and  sheets,  the  windward  view 
of  a  mainsail  shows  the  clewlines,  and  the  lee  one  the 
buntlines  and  leech,  or  sidelines ;  by  the  combined 
action  of  which  the  sail  is  hauled  up  to  the  yard,  and 
the  wind  "  spilled,"  as  sailors  say,  or  squeezed  out  of 


Scotch  skiff,  sail  reefed,  macaroni  lug. 

it  ready  for  furling.  Like  a  lateen-sail,  a  course  is 
always  hauled  or  clewed  up  to  its  yard,  which  is  now 
never  lowered  before  this  is  done,  as  topsail-yards  are  ; 
and,  when  furled,  the  position  of  the  buntlines  and 
clewlines,  upon  opposite  sides,  gives  the  form  of  the 
sail  best  known  to  landsmen  and  steamboat  sailors, 
with  the  triangular  ends  of  the  clews  and  their  blocks 
pendant,  with  the  ropes  of  sheet  and  tack  on  either 
side  the  great  mass,  or  bunt  of  the  sail.  In  the 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         ]9 

seventeenth  century,  squaresails  were  not  furled  or 
"farthel'd"  in  this  way,  or,  as  it  was  termed,  "  in 
the  body  or  bunt,"  unless  the  ship  was  in  port. 

Other  ropes  used  for  controlling  a  squaresail  and 
its  yard,  are  the  braces,  lifts,  and  bowlines.  These 
last  are  for  tautening  the  windward,  or  leading  edge, 
or  weather  leech,  when  the  sail  is  used  near  the  wind  ; 
hence  the  term  "on  a  bowline,"  for  a  ship  close  hauled. 
In  an  old  fifteenth-century  sea-song,  which  occurs  in 
"  The  Stations  of  Rome  and  the  Pylgrym's  Sea 
Voyage,"  published  by  the  Early  English  Text  Society, 
the  bowline  is  spoken  of  thus — 

"  Hale  the  bowelyrie  !  now  vere  the  sheet ! 

Cook,  make  redy  at  noon  our  mete  ; 
Our  pylgryms  have  no  lust  to  ete ; 
I  pray  God  give  hem  rest !  " 

This  bowline  was  no  doubt  originally  made  fast  to 
the  actual  stem  or  bow,  as  it  is  now  in  the  Norwegian 
skiff,  and  some  other  boats;  and  though  the  knot 
called  a  bowline  may  have  been  used  to  connect  the 
span  or  bridle  on  the  edge  of  the  sail  with  the  bowline, 
it  probably  took  its  name  from  being  the  knot  used 
for  the  loop  at  the  loose,  or  sliding  end,  of  a  bowstring. 
All  these  names  and  details  about  the  gear  of  a 
mainsail  are  pretty  much  with  us  to-day  as  they  were 
in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth;  how  much  older,  it 


20  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

is  hard  to  say.     But  in  one  thing  the  modern  mainsail, 
bent  to  its  iron  yard,  differs  from  that  of  a  hundred 
years  ago,  which  is  that  the  yard  is  now  permanently 
slung  by  a  chain  from  the  top,  and  pivots  upon  an  iron 
gooseneck  in  front  of  the  mast,  always  remaining  aloft ; 
while  from  entries  in  the  logs  of  old  ships,  and  pictures, 
it  is  certain  that  it  was  quite  common  with  them  to 
"  lower  ye  main  yard  on  deck/1   or   "  a  portlast,"  or 
"portoise,"   terms  synonymous  with   gunwale.     "  To 
ride  a  portlast,"  meaning  with  the  lower  yards  on  the 
gunwale,  and  topmasts  struck  in  a  gale  ;  and  the  old 
seamen  had  a  vast  assemblage  of  slings,  jears,  etc.,  for 
this  business,  besides  rolling   tackles  and  trusses,  to 
confine  the  yard  to   the  mast  in   a   seaway.     While 
owing  to  the  ease  with  which,  if  shot  away,  all  this 
rope  gear  could  be  repaired  at  sea,  this  way  of  sling- 
ing lower  yards  was  retained  in  the  -Eoyal  Navy  long 
after  it  was  out  of  date  in  the  merchant  service. 

As  I  said  before,  the  sail  of  northern  races  was  and 
is  a  square  sail,  either  slung  simply  like  a  ship's  main- 
sail by  the  middle,  or  a  very  square-headed  lug,  like 
those  used  by  the  Deal  men  in  their  "  galley-punts." 
These  boats  sail  very  near  the  wind,  and  are  out  in 
all  weathers.  They  seldom  reef,  but  shift  both  sail 
and  mast  according  to  the  force  of  the  wind.  Like 
many  powerful  sails,  this  shape  of  lug  requires  great 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


21 


skill  and  care  in  handling  (I  had  nearly  said  a  know- 
ledge of  algebra),  for  it  has  to  be  lowered  and  hoisted 
each  tack.  This  is  done  so  smartly  that  the  sail  is 
down  and  hoisted  again  on  the  other  side  of  the  mast 
while  the  boat  shoots  up  in  the  wind,  and  before  she 
has  lost  her  headway.  They  are  long,  deep  boats,  and 
carry  much  ballast,  and,  like  their  namesakes,  the  old 


Deal  galley-punt. 

galleys,  row  as  well  as  sail  fast.  Though  rigged  in  the 
same  way,  the  Deal  galley  is  a  longer,  lighter,  and 
narrower  build  of  boat  than  the  "  galley-punt,"  and 
is  mostly  used  under  oars  in  calms  or  light  winds. 

The  "  galley-punt  "  is,  in  fact,  the  sea-going  galley 
of  Deal,  and  is  a  connecting-link  between  the  galley 
and  the  three-masted  Deal  luggers  and."  cats "  of  twenty 


22  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

or  thirty  tons,  in  which  heavy  anchors  and  cables  are, 
or  were,  taken  off  to  vessels  in  want  of  them  in  the 
Downs.  Steam  and  chain  cables  have,  however,  greatly 
spoiled  this  once  important  business  of  the  Deal  boat- 
men; and  the  "  galley-punt "  is  now  the  boat  chiefly 
used  there  for  tending  vessels,  taking  off  or  landing 
pilots,  etc.  In  one  of  these  the  boatmen  will  charge 
a  steamer  passing  at  nearly  full  speed.  The  big  sail 
is  dropped  in  an  instant,  and  the  boat  being  protected 
by  a  large  permanent  fender  forward,  and  others  amid- 
ships, the  monster  is  grappled  with  a  short  boathook 
to  which  a  strong  warp  is  lashed.  A  turn  of  this 
taken  round  a  stout  bollard,  fitted  in  the  boat  like 
that  in  a  whale-boat,  enables  the  men,  as  they  tow 
foaming  through  the  water  alongside  the  steamer,  to 
hold  on  or  ease  away  as  required.  As  these  boats 
are  entirely  undecked,  one  of  the  crew  of  five  or  six 
is,  in  bad  weather,  constantly  at  work  with  the  pump. 

Among  other  northern  square-sailed  boats  are  the 
"  keels,"  used  in  the  Tyne  to  carry  coals  for  loading 
colliers,  and  which  are  not  unlike  the  large  one-masted 
square-sailed  coasters  of  Norway. 

The  lower  half  of  the  sail  of  this  Norwegian  vessel 
is  made  up  of  bands  or  "  bonnets,"  laced  together 
across  the  sail,  which  are  easily  taken  off  and  stowed 
away,  thus  avoiding  fche  heavy  roll  of  canvas,  which, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


23 


if  reefed,  would,  after  the  first  reef  was  taken  in,  be 
difficult  to  handle,  especially  when  wet  in  a  seaway. 
The  sketch  is  from  a  photograph,  and  shows  one  of 
these  old  type  of  vessels  before  a  light  wind,  with 
a  small  square  topsail  set  upon  the  polehead  of  her 
single  lofty  spar.  In  many  respects  the  rig  of  this 


Norwegian  coaster. 

Norwegian  coaster  is  very  like  that  of  some  of  the 
larger  boats  upon  the  Italian  lakes,  and  was,  no  doubt, 
the  rig  of  what  was  known  as  the  Vikings'  ship, 
described  in  another  place. 

In  the  Bay  of  Cancale,  Normandy,  large  square- 


24  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

rigged  fishing-boats  are  used,  of  thirty  tons  and  over ; 
and  are  locally  known  as  "  carres,"  an  old  rig  probably 
left  among  these  people  by  their  Norse  ancestors. 

Another  type  of  old  French  square-rigged  coaster 
is  the  "bilandre,"  which,  except  that  she  wants  tha 


Flemish  bilandre. 

gaff-inainsail  or  trysail,  reminds  one  of  a  Yorkshire 
billy-boy — a  vessel  which,  like  the  Thames  sailing- 
barge,  survives  among  us  in  all  her  original  colours 
and  form — the  largest  clinker-built  craft  in  England, 
or  perhaps  in  Europe.  These  old  Dutch-looking 
vessels  usually  hail  from  Goole,  and  are  built  with 
their  flat  sides  to  fit  certain  canal  locks,  just  as  the 
Dutch  galliot  is ;  while  the  mast  is  stepped  above 
deck,  into  what  sailors  call  a  "  tabernacle,"  or  strong 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


trunk,  built  up  through  the  deck  from  the  keelson, 
so  that  the  whole  mass  of  spar  and  rigging  can  he 
lowered,  like  a  barge's,  by  the  forestay  for  passing 
bridges. 

The  billy-boy  carries  a  large   cargo,  and  is  often 
manned    and    officered  by  her   owner,   his   wife   and 


Ivi 


Yorkshire  Lilly-boy. 

family  only.  Nothing  about  her  of  importance  has 
been  changed  for  centuries;  yet,  wonderful  to  say, 
like  the  galliot,  spite  of  steam,  she  still  holds  her  own 
commercially,  especially  for  the  carriage  of  grain  and 
other  things  requiring  a  tight,  dry  hold. 


26  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAIS,   AND   WOKDS, 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE    GIBBOUS    OB   TKUE    SAIL-WING   OF   THE    SOUTH. 

Leading  edge  and  after  leech  of  a  sail-wing — "  Cut  of  his  jib  : "  a  good 
old  maxim — Lifting  power  of  jib — Gybing — Transition  rig — The 
ketch :  origin  of  the  terra — The  bomb-ketch,  French  and  English 
— The  old  lateen-mizzen — "  Bagpipe  the  mizzen  " — Crojacks  and 
spankers — Origin  of  forward  rake  of  foremast — Bowsprits,  sprit- 
sail-yards,  and  top-masts  ;  value  of  them  and  the  spritsail  in 
action,  boarding,  etc. — The  origin  of  the  jackstaff. 

LEAVING  for  a  while  these  northern  squaresails,  with 
their  bowlines,  braces,  clewlines,  buntlines,  tacks, 
and  sheets,  and  turning  to  the  triangles,  jibs,  staysails, 
and  gibbous  wings  of  the  Latin  and  Southern  races, 
the  first  thing  that  strikes  one  about  these  sails  is 
that,  like  a  bird's  wing,  the  great  need  for  all  effective 
sail-power  used  to  windward  is  a  rigid  leading  edge,  or 
"  weather  leech/'  obtained  in  squaresails  only  by  the 
forward  drag  of  the  bowline ;  but  in  all  the  true  lateen- 
sails  by  the  yard  or  bone  of  the  sail-wing  itself;  in 
staysails  by  the  rigidity  of  the  mast  supporting  stay ; 
and  in  jibs  by  a  stout  roping  kept  taut  in  modern 
vessels  by  the  use  of  chain  halyards.  Before  the 
introduction  of  chain  for  this  purpose,  a  cutter's  jib 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


27 


was,  like  the  first  string  of  a  violin,  constantly  getting 
out  of  tune,  or  in  want  of  setting  up. 

Another  point  in  all  good  sails  is  that  the  after 
edge,  or  leech,  when  held  in  place  by  the  rope  called 
the  sheet,  should  be  as  nearly 
upright  or  vertical  as  possible ; 
this  edge  is  always  parallel  to 
the  seams  of  the  sail,  and,  like 
the  after  edge  of  a  wing,  uncon- 
fined  by  anything  more  than  a 
hem  or  lightest  of  rope  binding, 
save  where  a  reef-band  requires 
extra  strength.  A  cloth  at  this 
after  edge  of  a  jib,  or  fore  and 
aft  mainsail,  is  at  times  seen  shak- 
ing, while  the  rest  of  the  canvas 
is  as  still  as  though'  frozen ;  and 
though  this  is  a  fault  in  the  sail, 
it  is  better  that  the  wind  should 
pass  it  freely  so,  than  be  girt  in  / 
or  held  by  it. 

There  is  an  old  saying,  often 
used  too  by  landsmen  without  perhaps  knowing  why, 
"I  knew  him  by  the  cat  of  his  jib,"  meaning,  pro- 
bably, his  nose,  or  leading  feature  ;  but  a  jib  really  has 
more  cut  about  it  than  any  other  sail. 


Bird's  wing. 


28  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

Here  are  the  cloths  of  one,  showing  how  it  is  cut 
a  little  convex  upon  the  leading  edge,  and  the  right 
position  of  the  sheet  corner  or  clew  with  respect  to 
this  convexity,  without  which  the  leading  edge  or  luff 

Meal 


of  the  jib  would  be  concave  instead  of  straight  when 
roped  and  hoisted.  Though  few  practical  sailmakers 
know  much  of  algebraic  formula,  they  all  have  their 
fixed  rules  handed  down  from  old  time  for  cutting  out 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         29 

sails  ;  and,  wind  and  water  being  entirely  conservative 
elements,   they  seldom  go  far  wrong.     Among   these 
rules  is  that  of  working  by  thirds :   that  is,  when  at 
a  loss  as  to  the  best  proportion  for  one  thing  toward 
another,  to  take  a  third.     A  boat  always  takes  a  third 
of  the  fish  caught  in  her  ;  the  yard  of  a  lugsail  is  slung 
a  third  of  its  length  from  the  fore  end;  the  convex  part 
of  a  jib  is  at  one-third  of  the  luff,  measured  from  the 
lower  forward   corner   or    tack;    and   the    sheet- clew 
should  be   exactly  opposite   this  point.     Among  sea- 
faring   people,    a    pious    adherence    to    this    ancient 
mystery    saves    much    troublesome    calculation,    and 
when  our  shipbuilders  thought  a  third   a   good  pro- 
portion of  beam  to  length,  a  fair  amount  of  stability 
and  handiness  was  insured  to   ships.     Sailors   speak 
of  a   sail   as   either    lifting   or   pressing,    quite    inde- 
pendently of  its  propelling  force,  or  power  of  driving 
a  vessel  ahead.     Now  all  the  jibs,  and  many  staysails, 
are  lifting  sails,  which  do  their  work  with  the  least 
tendency  to  force  a  vessel's  lee  side  down.     They  are 
also,  especially  in  boats  or  small  vessels,  safe  sails  to 
gybe,  or  veer  round  under  before  the  wind ;    hence 
perhaps  the  term  "  gybe."     The  angle  at  which  the 
weather   edge   of  a  jib   stands,    and   the    position   of 
the  sheet,  has  much  to  do  with  this  lifting  quality; 
for  a  cutter's  foresail,  though  triangular,  is  not  a  lifting 


30  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

sail.  The  sail  which,  next  to  a  jib,  has  most  of  this 
lifting  power  is  no  doubt  the  lateen  (latin  ?)  sail  of  the 
south,  particularly  as  set  upon  the  trinchetto  or  fore- 
mast of  a  felucca ;  and  the  splendid  lifting,  wing-like 
power  of  this  sail  may  have  led  to  its  retention  as  a 
head-sail  in  the  curious  combination  of  rigs  given  here, 
the  "  barque  "  or  "  barca  "  of  the  Mediterranean. 

In  many  respects  the  rig  of  an  old  French  man-of- 


Transitiou  rig  between  lateen  and  square  sails. 

war  ketch,  with  her  staysail  and  two  jibs  in  place  of 
the  foremast,  and  great  lateen-sail,  is  an  improvement 
on  the  rig  of  this  "  barca,"  the  staysail  and  jibs  being 
lighter  to  handle,  though  in  a  seaway  the  long  bowsprit 
would  be  an  objection ;  and  with  the  wind  a  trifle  free, 
the  single  spread  of  canvas  of  the  lateen-sail  would 
give  more  speed. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


31 


Giving  Shakespeare  as  his  authority,  Johnson  says 
the  word  "ketch"  means  a  heavy  ship ;  from  the  Italian 
caicchio,  a  barrel.  The  rig  has  become  almost  obsolete, 
for  the  Jersey  dandy-rigged  vessels  now  known  by  that 
name  are  fore-and-afters,  while  the  original  ketch  was 
square  rigged  upon  the  mainmast,  and  carried  a  square 


Man-of-war  ketch. 

mizzen-topsail.  The  name  was  originally  quaiche,  in 
French — spelt  by  the  Bretons  Jceich — in  Spanish, 
queche,  the  Spaniard  calling  a  French  chasse-maree 
queche-marea.  In  Dutch  it  becomes  Tcaag,  the  g  being 
a  guttural ;  Swedish,  Tcoog.  The  word  also  greatly  re- 
sembles the  Icelandic  kayac'k,  and  the  Turkish  caique  ; 
while  the  Scotch  quaich  is  perhaps  of  similar  origin. 


32 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


The  French  were  the  first  to  make  use  of  this  rig 
for  mortar-vessels,  or  bomh-ketches,  in  which  the 
mizzen-topsail  was  used  when  possible  as  shown  here, 
to  regulate  the  position  of  the  vessel,  when,  all  her 
forward  rigging  being  cleared  away  except  the  main- 


French  bomb-ketch  laid  head  to  wind,  under  mizzen-topsail. 

stay,  which  was  of  chain,  to  resist  the  burning  powder, 
she  lay  head  on  to  an  enemy  or  fort.  English  bomb- 
vessels  were  usually  three-masted,  and  delivered  their 
fire  from  the  side,  thus  exposing  a  larger  mark  to  the 
enemy ;  but  as  the  range  of  a  shell  at  that  time  much 


IN  TEE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 

exceeded  that  of  any  gun,  this  was  not  thought  a  dis- 
advantage. The  strength  of  timber,  or  scantling,  of 
one  of  these  old  bomb-vessels  equalled  that  of  a 
fifty-gun  ship.  The  French  bomb-ketch  carried  two 
mortars,  upon  a  massive  timber  bedding  forward  of 
the  mainmast. 

Another  curious  combination  and  retention  of  the 


Old  frigate,  with  lateen-mizzen. 

lateen-sail  with  the  square  rig  was  the  old  lateen-mizzen 
and  its  yard,  which,  until  1670,  and  many  years  later, 
was  always  a  complete  triangle.  Subsequently,  the 
fore  part  of  the  sail  disappeared,  but  the  end  of  the 
lateen-yard  kept  its  place  until  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century — found  useful,  perhaps,  in 
balancing  or  keeping  up  the  lofty  peak.  The  fore  and 
aft  sail,  which  has  superseded  it,  is  still  known  as  the 


34 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


spanker,  or  driver.  This  was  originally,  however,  a 
much  larger  form  of  the  old  lateen-mizzen  set  upon  the 
same  yard,  the  foot  being  extended  by  a  boom  con- 
siderably over  the  ship's  stern,  while  the  head  was 
extended  by  a  jack-yard  hoisted  to  the  mizzen-peak,  a 


Mizzen"bagpiped." 

sail  which,  in  Drake's  time,  must  have  been  both 
a  "spanker  and  driver,"  as  it  swelled  out  above  the 
old  ship's  lofty  poops,  the  fore  part  of  the  long  yard 
running  down  at  a  suitable  angle  with  the  sheer  of  the 
hull.  It  was  the  shape  which  the  lateen-mizzen  took 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         35 

when  laid  aback,  with  the  sheet  hauled  up  to  the 
inizzen-shrouds,  which  gave  rise  to  the  old  sea-term, 
"  Bagpipe  the  mizzen." 

This  lateen  mizzen-yard,  about  the  year  1800, 
became  a  gaff;  but  the  lower  yard  upon  the  mizzen- 
mast,  which  should  have  succeeded  to  the  title,  never 
did  so,  but  remained  a  crojack,  or  crossjack-yard  (la 
vergue  seek,  the  barren  yard  of  the  French),  and 
rarely  had  a  sail  upon  it,  until  some  fifty  years  ago, 
when  a  Yankee  captain  set  what  he  called  a  crojack, 
or  mizzen-course,  upon  it.  But  old  English  skippers 
only  shook  their  heads  when  they  saw  one,  and  knew 
the  ship  ten  miles  off  for  a  d d  Yankee. 

A  clipper  ship  of  to-day  carries  so  many  masts,  and 
so  many  kinds  of  yards  upon  them,  that  they  have 
almost  lost  their  identity,  and,  like  the  streets  in  an 
American  city,  have  numbers  instead  of  names ;  so 
that  a  man  may  be  ordered  aloft  upon  No.  8  yard, 
fifth  mast,  etc. 

In  all  old  lateeners  the  "  trinchetto,"  or  foremast, 
rakes  forward  quite  as  much  as  in  the  Malay  proah  (see 
page  12),  and  for  the  same  reason,  namely,  that  in  this 
way  it  supports  the  yard  and  sail  so  as  to  give  it  the 
lifting  quality  of  a  jib.  This  forward  rake  of  the  fore- 
mast is  found  also  in  most  of  the  early  types  of  lugger ; 
but  long  after  ships  ceased  to  be  luggers,  and  the 


36  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

necessity  for  this  rake  was  past,  a  trace  of  it  remained, 
a  sort  of  fashion  among  old-world  skippers,  who  were 
never  satisfied  with  the  look  of  their  ship  unless  her 
fore-topgallant-mast  looked  down  almost  upon  her 
figure-head.  The  old  bowsprit,  or  "  bolt-sprit  "  (sprit 
sometimes  kept  in  place  by  a  bolt),  was  almost  a  fourth 
mast,  reminding  one  much  in  its  original  form  of  the 
trinchetto  of  a  felucca ;  and  the  spritsails  carried  below 


Bowsprit  and  spritsail  on  a  wind. 

it  were  greatly  valued  by  our  old  seamen  as  a  means  of 
retaining  command  over  a  ship  by  veering  her  round 
under  them  before  the  wind,  in  case  of  losing  their 
foremast  by  shot  or  tempest. 

These  two  squaresails  were  not  only  used  when 
going  free,  or  before  the  wind,  but  on  a  wind,  or  with 
the  wind  abeam,  by  topping  up  the  yard;  while  the 
reef-points  were  placed  diagonally,  so  that,  when  reefed, 
the  part  of  the  sail  nearest  the  sea  was  narrower  than 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


37 


the  upper  part,  and  the  lower  sail,  or  spritsail  proper, 
had  holes  in  each  corner  to  allow  any  water  caught  by 
the  sail  to  run  out  of  it,  as  the  ship  plunged,  instead 
of  splitting  it  (in  French,  "  les  yeux  de  la  civadidre  "). 
Spritsails,  and  spritsail-topsails,  were  certainly 
sometimes  carried  by  ships  of  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century;  after  which  the  fixed,  or  standing 


Spritsail-topmast,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

part  of  the  bowsprit,  was  much  reduced,  the  jibboom 
increasing  in  length,  and  taking  the  place  of  the  long 
outer  end  of  this  important  spar,  which  in  ships  of  the 
fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries  ranked 
almost  as  a  fourth  mast,  being  fitted  at  the  end  with 
a  regular  round-top,  from  which  rose  that  strange  little 
spar,  the  "  sprit  sail-topmast,"  supported  like  the  other 
three  topmasts  by  shrouds  set  up  with  deadeyes  and 


38  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

lanyards  from  this  sprit  sail-top.  This  mast  not  only 
had  a  squaresail,  the  spritsail-topsail,  set  upon  it,  but 
terminated  in  a  pole-head  or  jackstaff,  upon  which  the 
flag  known  as  "  the  jack,"  afterwards  the  Union  jack, 
was  hoisted. 

One  cannot  help  being  struck  at  the  old  seaman- 
like  audacity  of  this  candlestick-like  form  of  mast 
and  round-top  carried  at  the  end  of  these  long,  old- 
fashioned  bowsprits ;  particularly  when  one  considers 
that  the  principal  support,  not  only  of  the  ship's  fore- 
mast, but,  through  it,  of  her  mam-topmast,  was  the 
forestay,  which  was  secured  to  the  bowsprit.  This 
bowsprit-top  must,  however,  have  been  of  use,  not 
only  as  a  splendid  look-out  place  in  thick  weather, 
but  as  a  coigne  of  vantage  for  a  small  body  of  resolute 
men  to  assemble  upon  just  before  running  an  enemy 
on  board,  and  from  which  to  drop  upon  her  deck, 
after  first  clearing  it  by  a  flight  of  arrows,  or  musket- 
balls,  or  with  the  contents  of  a  "  stink-pot. "  For 
some  years  after  this  top  and  mast  disappeared,  the 
spritsail-topsail  was  retained,  set  beyond  the  spritsail 
upon  the  jibboom,  which  in  the  eighteenth  century, 

with  the  flying-jibboom,  superseded  this  old  spritsail- 

• 

topmast. 

The  fashion,  however,  of  setting  a  small  naval 
Union  jack  upon  a  short  staff,  stepped  upon  the  cap 


IN  THE   DAYS  OF   OAK  AND  HEMP. 


39 


at  the  end  of  the  bowsprit,  is  still  retained  in  our 
rigged  ironclads  and  gunboats,  a  rudimentary  form  of 
this  curious  old  mast. 

The  spritsail  yard  or  yards  of  a  ship  boarding 
another  were  always  braced  fore  and  aft,  as  in  this 
position  they  not  only  allowed  of  closer  contact 
between  the  ships,  but,  what  was  of  more  importance, 
formed  a  good  gangway  for  the  boarders  after  the 
enemy  was  grappled.  In  attacking  very  lofty  ships, 
use  was  often  made  of  the  pole  or  boarding  axe ;  the 
points  of  several  being  driven  one  above  the  other  into 
the  planking  of  the  vessel  attacked,  so  as  to  form 
temporary  scaling-ladders  for  the  boarders. 


Boarding-axe. 


40  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE    FULL-EIGGED    SHIP. 

Old  three-masters — The  polacca — A  Genoese  carrack — The  lateen- 
yard — The  strength  of  the  pine — Mast-building — The  old  French 
chasse-maree — Beer  Head  boats — Beaching  them — Clench  and 
carvel  work  —  Brixham  trawlers  —  Clench  boat-building  —  The 
"  Portaferry  frigate  " — Origin  of  the  term  "  On  the  stocks  " — 
Boat-building  by  machinery — Boats  for  Arab  shooting,  or  for 
ascending  or  shooting  the  Nile  cataracts. 

UNTIL  the  last  forty  years,  or  when,  owing  to  the  great 
increase  in  the  size  of  ships,  the  use  of  double  topsail- 
yards  and  the  division  of  topsails  into  upper  and  lower 
became  almost  a  necessity  in  our  rather  short-handed 
merchant  navy,  the  square-sails,  staysails,  and  jibs  of 
a  full-rigged  ship  were,  sail  for  sail,  pretty  much  as 
shown  in  the  next  two  diagrams,  which  go  back  nearly 
two  hundred  years. 

There  were  thirty  sails  all  told  (note  the  number, 
three  tens).  It  was  under  these  sails  that  England's 
line-of-battle  was  formed,  and  her  ships  handled,  by 
men  like  Benbow,  Anson,  Eodney,  Howe,  Hawke, 
Jervis,  Nelson,  and  Collingwood;  while  of  English 
cruising  frigates  and  sloops  we  could  say  then,  what 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


41 


we  hardly  can  to-day,  namely,  that  nothing  afloat 
could  overtake  or  get  away  from  them.  This  was 
especially  the  case  with  frigates  taken  from  the 


Squaresails,  eighteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

French,  or  built  upon  the  lines  of  captured  French 
vessels.  I  therefore  give  a  drawing  to  scale  of  the 
principal  sails  and  gear  of  one  of  these  old  French 


Staysails,  eighteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

corvettes,  as  a  good  type  of  fast  cruiser,  sea-keeper, 
and  privateer,  of  1780. 

With  her  tall  three-storied  masts,  tops,  and  cross- 


42 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,  AND   WOEDS, 


trees,  the  rig  of  this  corvette  is  a  long  step  from  the 
simple  three-masted  xebecs,  feluccas,  and  luggers ;  but 
the  square-rigged  polacca,  or  pole-rig,  still  seen  in 
Mediterranean  ports,  forms  a  link  in  the  chain. 

In  general  arrangement  of  sail,  the  polacca  (see 
page  44)  is  not  unlike  the  old  Genoese  and  other 
carracks,  which  in  the  sixteenth  century  brought  the 


Lines  and  timbers  of  French  corvette. 

wines  and  silks  of  the  south  to  the  south  hams  of 
England — ships  with  long  pole-masts  of  a  date  when 
large  pines  were  plentiful. 

As  the  lateen-yard  tapers  toward  either  end,  it  is 
always  made  of  two  spars,  grown  as  nearly  as  possible 
of  the  proper  size,  which  are  iished  or  scarfed  together, 
and  this  is  done  because  the  strength  of  a  pine  stick 
lies  chiefly  in  the  outside  circles  of  the  wood  next 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


44 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


the  bark.     But  the  polacca's  masts  are  usually  in  one 
piece,  the  natural  form  and  size  of  the  forest  pine.* 


Polacca-rigged  bark. 


Genoese  carrack,  or  carrick. 

*  In  1592  a  Portuguese  carrack  was  taken  by  Sir  John  Barrough, 
of  1600  tons,  165  ft.  long  over  all  by  47  ft.  beam.  Her  mainmast, 
which  was  121  ft.  long,  was  3  ft.  8  in.  in  diameter  at  the  deck,  and 
her  mainyard  106  ft.  long. — Charnock,  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


45 


As  ships  grew  larger,  and  good  spars  became  scarcer, 
the  art  of  mast-making  grew-  in  importance,  until  it 
reached  perfection  in  the  mainmast  of  a  line-of-battle 
ship,  built  up  of  many  pieces,  hooped  and 
woolded  or  bound  together. 

Nearly  all  big  ships'  masts  and  yards 
are  now  tubes  of  iron  or  steel. 

As  one  of  these  richly  laden,  richly 
carved  carracks  came  rolling  up  Channel, 
a  good  look-out  was  no  doubt  kept  from 
her  round-tops  for  a  very  different  type 
of  pole-masted  ship — the  heavily  built, 
well-manned  Norman  chasse-maree  —  a 
vessel  which  is  with  us  to-day,  pretty 
much  as  she  must  have  been  in  the 
twelfth  century  —  her  bluff  lofty  bow 
rising  sharply  as  though  to  face  a  sea, 
rather  than  for  passage  before  the  wind 

Section  at  deck  of 

in  fine  weather,  and  with  some  trace  of 

the  lateen  rig  about  her,  in  the  heavily 

fished  yards,  high-peaked  sails,  and  foremast  close  to 

her  stem. 

Like  the  mainsail  of  the  Norwegian  coaster,  this 
vessel's  foresail  is  fitted  with  a  deep  bonnet-piece, 
laced  to  the  foot  of  the  sail,  which  has  only  one  or 
two  reef-bands  in  it.  In  rough  weather  the  mainsail 


made  mast,  and 
mast  showing 
hoops  and  rope 
wooldings. 


46 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


is  usually  stowed  altogether,  and  the  boat  worked 
under  this  reduced  foresail,  with  a  storm-mizzen  and 
jib.  In  light  winds  a  maintopsail  is  set  upon  the 
long  pole-head  of  the  mainmast,  bearing  about  the 
same  proportion  to  the  mainsail  itself  as  the  topsail 
set  by  the  Norway  coaster  does  to  her  mainsail. 

Every  day  these  old  Norman  luggers  become  scarcer 


Norman  chasse-maree. 

— replaced  by  the  handier  ketch,  or  rather  dandy  rig — - 
and  the  ponderous  hull  of  one  may  be  now  often 
seen,  roughly  refitted  as  a  ketch,  her  mainmast  having 
been  done  away  with,  her  foremast  moved  further  aft, 
and  her  mizzen  stepped  a  little  forward. 

These  vessels  bring  across  Channel  to  us  large 
cargoes  of  onions,  potatoes,  etc.,  earning  enough  in 
this  way  to  afford  to  return  home  in  ballast,  consisting 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         47 

usually  of  the  roughest  kind  of  heavy  town  refuse, 
such  as  old  brickbats,  etc.  But  then  it  must  be 
remembered  that  her  Breton  crew  are  not  above 
harnessing  themselves  to  a  truck,  and  hawking  much 
of  their  cargo  round  the  country  for  miles;  and  I 
have  actually  seen  a  horse  and  cart  brought  by  them 
on  their  lugger's  deck  from  France  for  this  purpose, 
or  to  save  the  expense  of  hiring  in  England. 


Beer  Head  fishing-boat. 

This  rig  was  much  used  by  the  French  privateers- 
men  and  smugglers  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  and 
when  at  her  best,  with  fifteen  or  thirty  men  to  handle 
her,  it  required  a  smart  vessel  to  overtake,  or  escape 
from,  a  chasse-maree  in  a  breeze. 

Nearly  opposite  the  ports  these  vessels  hail  from, 
upon  the  English  coast,  a  little  fleet  of  some  eight 
or  ten  fishing-boats  are  nestled  together  under  Beer 
Head,  which,  though  very  much  smaller,  are  also  a 


48  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

true  type  of  early  ship,  not  unlike  the  chasse-maree ; 
they  are  fast  weatherly  boats,  but  from  the  character 
of  the  sails  and  manner  of  setting  them,  require  both 
care  and  skill  in  handling. 

Indeed,  with  their  high  peak,  long  yards,  and 
main  tack,  or  forward  lower  corner  of  the  mainsail, 
hooked  to  windward  of  the  mast,  the  Beer-man's 
sails  have  more  of  the  lateen  character  about  them 
than  most  other  professional  lugsails ;  while  the  curve 
given  to  the  leading  edge  by  a  small  spar,  something 
like  a  clothes-prop,  called  "  the  foregirt,"  and  used 
instead  of  a  bowline  to  twig  out  the  weather  edge 
both  of  the  mainsail  and  foresail,  also  adds  greatly 
to  this  lateen  look  when  seen  from  a  distance.  These 
Beer  boats  carry  no  bowsprit  or  jib,  the  great  foresail, 
the  tack  of  which  goes  to  an  iron  bumpkin,  taking  the 
place  of  a  jib,  as  it  does  in  most  lateen-rigged  boats ; 
while  this  bumpkin  is  probably  the  origin  of  the  spar 
of  the  same  name,  by  which  the  fore  tack  of  square- 
rigged  vessels  was  extended ;  though  in  the  Beer  boat 
the  bumpkin  stands  rather  in  the  place  of,  or  answers 
one  of  the  purposes,  of  the  "  flech  "  or  permanent  pro- 
jection beyond  the  stem  of  the  Mediterranean  lateeners, 
to  which  the  fore  tack  of  their  foresails  is  also  made 
fast.  The  Beer  boats  are  rather  sharp-bottomed  and 
entirely  undecked;  they  are  used  for  trawling,  drift- 


IN   THE  DAYS   OF   OAK   AND  HEMP.  49 

net,  and  line-fishing,  and  in  landing,  when  the  tide  is 
up,  they  are  sheered  nearly  broadside  on  to  the  steep 
wall  of  beach  at  Beer,  against  which  they  are  pressed 
and  held  upright,  when  there  is  a  sea  on,  by  the  sails, 
which  are  laid  aback,  some  of  their  big  stone  ballast 
being  shifted  at  the  same  time  into  the  lee  bilge,  until 
the  crew  have  had  time  to  toss  overboard  the  rest  of 
it,  after  which  the  boat  is  hauled  up  to  her  capstan 
above  high- water  mark ;  the  time  chosen  for  these 
landings  being,  if  possible,  upon  a  falling  tide,  so  that 
the  boat  may  soon  be  left  by  the  sea.  Like  nearly  all 
our  smaller  English  fishing-boats,  the  Beer  boat  is 
clench  or  clinker  built.  It  is  noteworthy  that  of 
"  carvel "  or  smooth-built  English  fishing-boats,  the 
Brixham  trawlers  were  among  the  first.  These  cutters 
have  much  in  common  with  certain  French  fishing- 
cutters  described  in  another  place.  As  far  back  as 
the  time  of  the  Armada,  the  Brixharn  trawler  was 
mentioned  as  a  fast  vessel,  suitable  for  carrying  news, 
etc. ;  while  it  was  the  Brixham  men  who,  about  fiity 
years  ago,  first  taught  the  North  Sea  fishermen  deep- 
sea  trawling,  which  I  suspect  they  in  turn  learnt  from 
the  French.  Still,  all  our  older  English  cutters  were 
clench,  or,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  cutter  built,  a 
mode  of  construction  evidently  left  among  us  by  the 
Norsemen;  and  as  showing  the  size  of  this  kind  of  vessel 


50  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

with  us  years  ago,  I  may  mention  that  when  living  at 
Sidmouth,  about  six  miles  from  Beer,  I  had  a  boat- 
builder  working  with  me  who  used  a  hammer  that  had 
been  in  his  family  for  three  generations  at  least,  and 

which  in  his  grandfather's 
time  had  driven  the  nails 
of  a  clench-built  ship  of  a 
hundred  tons. 

This  ancient  tool 
weighed  about  four 
pounds,  and  had  a  hole  in 

Boat-builder's  old  hammer.  fae    fa[\    rather    OVer    half 

an  inch  square  for  pushing  on  the  washers,  or  "  roves," 
and  breaking  off  the  ends  of  the  iron  nails  before 
riveting  them;  somewhat  such  a  hammer  as  the 
Vikings  must  have  used  in  building  their  galleys. 

In  confirmation  of  William  Connant,  the  Sidmouth 
boat-builder's  story,  there  is,  or  was,  in  the  library  of 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Canterbury,  a  manuscript 
record  of  how,  in  1347,  "  Sydmouth  "  supplied  Edward 
III.,  for  his  "  South  fleet,"  "  three  shipps  and  fifty-two 
marriners;"  which  would  give  about  seventeen  men 
to  each  "  shipp  "  :  while  the  small  tonnage  of  square- 
rigged  vessels  of  even  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  is  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  the 
Naval  Chronicle  of  July,  1802,  which  tells  us  that  "  a 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         51 

vessel  lately  arrived  at  Whitehaven  from  Strangford, 
which  is  known  to  have  been  coasting,  chiefly  in  St. 
George's  Channel,  for  a  hundred  and  thirty  years.  She 
is  called  the  Three  Sisters — Donnan,  master — but  is 
better  known  as  the  Portaferry  frigate  ;  she  is  thirty- 
six  tons  burthen,  and  rigged  at  present  as  a  brigantine  ; 
but  is  reported  to  have  been  formerly  ship-rigged.  It 
is  certain  that  she  was  employed  at  the  siege  of  Lon- 
donderry in  1689,  and  was  successful  on  an  emergency 
in  supplying  the  garrison  with  provisions.  This  vene- 
rable piece  of  naval  architecture,  which,  from  the  great 
improvements  made  in  the  last  century,  is  now  viewed 
as  a  curiosity,  is  allowed,  we  are  told,  the  privilege  of 
using  any  of  the  public  docks  at  Liverpool  free  of  port 
charges,  in  consequence  of  her  having  been  the  first 
vessel  that  entered  the  old  dock." 

As  I  said  before,  most  English  boats  are  clench- 
built,  and  this  seems  to  hold  good  with  many  other 
northern  types  of  boat,  while  nearly  all  the  boats  of 
France,  Italy,  and  Spain,  however  small,  are  carvel- 
built.  This  would  not  be  surprising  if  England's  boats 
were  the  only  ones  that  landed  or  were  kept  upon 
open  beaches.  But  this  is  not  the  case,  as  one  con- 
stantly sees  numbers  of  carvel-built  boats,  of  a  very 
old  type,  hauled  up  daily,  high  and  dry,  upon  the  open 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  elsewhere. 


52  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

Still,  clench  work  is  undoubtedly  better  adapted  for 
this  sort  of  rough  usage,  being  both  lighter  and  stronger 
than  carvel  work ;  the  lapped  outer  skin  giving  to  the 
boat  almost  as  much  strength  as  the  ribs,  which  are 
most  of  them  bent  by  boiling  or  steaming,  and  are 
fitted  into  the  boat  after  she  is  planked  up.  So  that, 
as  plank  by  plank  the  form  of  the  boat  unfolds  from 
the  keel  upwards,  her  model  depends  almost  entirely 
upon  the  builder's  eye,  instead  of  on  moulds  or  lines 


pLA.-.  •  .^^^===s==a8- ,       ^ts==^^&==^p^ 


First  stage  of  clench-built  boat,  on  stocks. 

laid  off  upon  paper,  or  upon  the  mould-loft  floor  before- 
hand. Indeed,  experienced  clench  boat-builders  can 
finish  the  planking  of  a  boat  without  putting  a  single 
mould  or  pattern  into  her  to  work  by. 

In  carvel  work,  on  the  other  hand,  every  frame  or 
rib  is  cut  out  from  a  pattern,  and  sometimes  none  are 
set  up  in  place  upon  the  keel  until  all  are  ready.  It 
was  with  a  view  chiefly  to  this  carvel  kind  of  boat- 
building, that  about  twenty-five  years  back  some 


IN  TEE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.         53 

Americans  started  a  company  in  London  for  boat- 
building by  machinery;  but  it  came  to  nothing,  as  it 
was  found  that  most  English  customers  required  the 
old-fashioned,  tough,  basket-like  clench-built  boat, 
which  could  be  planked,  ribbed,  and  riveted  together 
by  hand  as  fast  as  in  any  other  way.  And  so,  owing 
to  insular  prejudices,  etc.,  this  company  wound  itself 
up ;  and  whenever  a  lot  of  light  strong  boats,  to  go 
Arab  shooting  in,  are  wanted  in  a  hurry,  orders  have 
to  be  sent  to  boat-builders  all  round  our  coasts,  which 
is  not  as  it  should  be  in  a  progressive  country.* 

*  The  whole  of  the  above  chapter  was  .written  in  1885,  long 
before  M.  Da  Chaillu's  interesting  book  was  heard  of ;  but  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  everything  connected  with  English  boatmanship 
and  boat-building  goes  to  show  the  distinctly  Viking  character  of 
our  work  as  compared  with  that  of  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian 
fishermen. 


\3*Atf)7 

THK 


54  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTER   V. 

LONG   AND    SHOET    SAIL-PINIONS. 

Nile  boat  and  the  Dutch  eel-schuyt — Clipped  sail-wings — Lugsails 
of  the  Adriatic — Hudson  River  sloop — Lazy-lines  and  squalls  on 
the  Hudson — Rochelle  cutter — Her  net — Stone  trawl-heads — 
Rochester  bawley  boat — The  old  king  s  cutter — Her  dimensions, 
spars,  etc. — Modern  racing  yacht — Limit  of  lead  and  leverage 
— The  America  and  Squire  Weld — American  yachts  and  pilot- 
boats — Fit  of  their  canvas — The  Henrietta — Tidal  seas  and 
English  yachts — The  centre-board — The  inventor  of  it — The 
Lady  Nelson  centre-board  store-ship — Rudders  below  keel  in 
Venetian  craft  and  Yorkshire  cobles. 

HAVING,  in  the  digression  on  boat-building  in  the  last 
chapter,  drifted  as  far  south  as  the  Nile  and  its 
dahabeeyahs,  their  long,  lofty  pinions,  suited  for  catch- 
ing and  holding  every  breath  of  air  above  a  river-bank, 
remind  me  that  I  have  not  dwelt  enough  upon  the 
great  value  of  a  high-peaked  sail,  especially  in  latitudes 
favoured  with  steady  winds  and  weather.  Indeed, 
wherever  sails  of  this  kind  are  common,  it  will  be 
found,  I  think,  that  steady  dependable  winds  are  the 
rule.  Want  of  observation,  or  knowledge  of  this,  was 
one  reason  that  the  progress  of  our  first,  and  let  us 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


55 


hope,  our  last,  military  boat  expedition  up  the  Nile, 
was  so  slow ;  for  in  it  our  boats  were  furnished  with 
sail-power  of  a  character  and  size  for  use  in  half  a 
gale  of  wind  in  English  waters,  in  place  of  lofty- 
peaked  sails,  capable  of  propelling  them  before  the 
wind  against  the  stream  of  a  great  tropical  river. 


Dahabeeyah  of  the  Nile. 

It  is  true  that  from  first  to  last  this  expedition, 
though  much  aided  in  its  execution  by  our  blue-jackets, 
was  a  soldier's  scheme  ;  while  it  was  thought,  no 
doubt,  that  higher  peaked,  or  larger  sails,  might  have 
cost  us  a  few  lives,  and,  so  that  no  risks  might  be 
run,  boats  were  sent  to  contend  against  the  Nile 
stream  with  pinions  clipped  almost  as  short  as  the 


56  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

stumpy  guillemot  wing  of  a  Dutch  eel-boat — a  wing 
or  sail  better  adapted  for  beating  dead  to  wind- 
ward than  for  making  the  most;  of  a  fair  wind. 
Without,  however,  going  as  far  north  as  Holland, 
instances  of  the  reduction  in  length  of  yard  and  sail- 
pinion,  to  suit  prevailing  weather,  etc.,  may  be  found 
in  certain  craft  of  the  northern  ports  of  the  stormy 
Adriatic,  where  most  of  the  coasters  and  fishing-boats 


Channel  Island  boat. 

are  of  the  clipped  lateen,  or  almost  lugger  type ;  and 
these  two  boats,  one  an  ordinary  Jersey  fishing-boat, 
and  the  other  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  little  port  of 
Kimini,  have  really  more  in  common  than  with  a  two- 
rnasted  lateener. 

These  luggers  of  the  Adriatic  are  fine  models,  with 
handsome  elliptical  sterns,  rather  of  the  wherry  type, 
having  the  rudder  all  outside.  They  rise  well  forward, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


57 


with  a  springy  sheer,  and  rather  swan-like  bow,  more 
elegant,  but  reminding  one  greatly  of  the  big  Norman 
lugger.  Nothing,  in  fact,  can  speak  plainer  of  hard 
winds,  and  short  heavy  seas,  than  the  build  and  sails 
of  these  boats.  The  cautious  Dutchman  in  his  schuyt 
is,  however,  the  only  shipman  quite  content  to  almost 
entirely  give  up  the  advantage  of  a  peak  to  his  sail ; 
choosing  for  pattern  the  wing  of  a  diver  rather  than 


Coaster  of  North  Adriatic. 

that  of  a  tern  or  swallow.  This  may  be  for  want  of 
sea-room  when  working  under  sail  among  buildings,  or 
up  the  streets  of  his  towns,  where  it  is  very  desirable 
to  keep  a  vessel  as  nearly  upright  as  possible  that  she 
may  not  interfere  with  roofs  or  windows;  while  this 
form  of  sail  and  mast  is  easily  handled  or  lowered  and 
hoisted  again  by  the  skipper  and  his  wife  and  family. 
Though  upon  a  larger  scale,  and  with  more  hoist, 


58  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,    AND   WORDS, 

this  short-peaked  Dutch-cut  sail  was  evidently  the 
origin  of  the  sail  used  on  board  the  old  Hudson  Kiver 
sloops  and  schooners,  which,  before  the  introduction 
of  steam,  and,  indeed,  for  years  afterwards,  carried  all 
the  heavy  merchandise  between  New  York,  Albany, 
Troy,  and  other  places  upon  that  river.  Here  a  short 


Dutch  sloop. 

peak  was  found  advantageous  when  sailing  among 
mountains  and  steep  hills,  between  the  funnel-like  gaps 
of  which  heavy  flaws  of  wind  constantly  come  down 
upon  this  river  with  tremendous  force  ;  squalls  which 
were  usually  met  or  "  negotiated  "  by  the  crew  of  one 
or  two  men  in  these  big  sloops,  by  luffing,  or  heading 
up  to  them,  and  letting  go  the  main  and  short-peak 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


59 


halyards,  which  were  in  one,  when  the  sail  came  down 
at  once  upon  the  boom,  confined  to  it  between  what 
were  called  "  lazy-lines,"  which  passed  on  either  side 
the  sail  from  the  boom  to  the  mast-head,  somewhat  in 
the  fashion  of  a  number  of  double  topping-lifts. 


Hudson  River  sloop. 

In  spite  of  this  arrangement  of  sail,  etc.,  these 
big  sloops  and  schooners  sometimes  came  to  grief, 
and  it  was  not  uncommon,  upon  that  part  of  the 
Hudson  near  West  Point  among  the  "  Highlands," 
for  a  brick  or  other  deep-laden  sloop  to  vanish  in  one 


60 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WOEDS, 


of  these  whirling  puffs  of  wind,  and  leave  nothing 
beyond  a  man's  hat  to  show  where  she  had  floated 
a  moment  before.  With  a  beam  wind  upon  the 
smooth  water  of  the  Hudson,  these  large  sloops  sailed 
very  fast,  and,  most  of  them  being  fitted  with  centre- 


Kochelle  trawler  (West  France). 

boards,  were  as  handy  in  turning  to  windward  as  an 
ordinary  una-boat;  they  were,  in  fact,  the  origin  of 
the  present  large  American  centre-board  yachts  and 
pleasure-boats. 

With  the  tall  mast  so  far  forward,  the  sloop-rig  is 


^  \  K>  r»  ^  ^ 
OF   THE 

O'NIVERS 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


certainly  better  suited  for  smooth  water  than  for  work 
in  a  seaway;  and  both  Englishmen  and  Frenchmen, 
in  their  cutters  and  luggers,  and  Italians,  Spaniards, 
and  Arabs,  in  their  lateeners  and  dhows,  have  always 
retained  as  much  of  the  valuable  peak  and  upright 
after-leech  or  edge  in  their  sails  as  possible.  Among 
French  cutters  this  is  well  seen  in  an  old  form  of  them 
still  found  at  Rochelle. 

This  vessel,  which  carries  an  enormous  square- 
headed  topsail,  is  pole-masted  ;  and  the  great  size  and 
low  position  of  the  jaws  of  her  gaff  remind  one  very 
much  of  a  Thames  barge's  sprit.  She  is  an  exag- 
gerated type  of  other  cutters  of  some  northern  French 
ports,  while  the  old  Brixham  trawler  had  many  points 
in  common  with  her. 

It  may  be  noted  here  that  the  trawl-net  of  Rochelle 
is  simply  an  oblong  or  nearly  square  bag,  which, 
though  furnished  with  the  usual  side  "  pockets,"  has  no 
opening  like  our  longer  trawl-nets  at  the  lower  end  or  cod 
of  the  trawl  ;  also  that,  in  place  of  iron  trawl-heads, 
or  runners  at  the  ends  of  the  beam,  they  use  two 
large  stones,  about  the  size  and  shape  of  an  American 
cheese,  which  are  bored  edgeways,  or  through  their 
diameter,  and  are  thus  linked  by  short  chains  to  the 
ends  of  the  trawl-beam  —  literally  stone  "  trawl-heads." 

The    "  Rochester    bawley-boat"     and    the    Lee 


62 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


shrimper,  with  their  short  masts,  long  gaffs,  and  top- 
masts, are  another  type  of  fishing-vessels  in  which  the 
long  peak  and  perpendicular  after  edge  of  the  mainsail 
is  remarkable. 


Rochester  bawley-boat. 

These  boats  are  without  a  boom,  and  though  low 
amidships,  and  bluff-looking  about  the  bow  above 
water,  they  are  fast  and  handy  for  work  among  the 
dangerous  sandy  fiats  and  narrow  channels  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Thames;  while,  owing  to  the  shortness  ol 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.          63 

their  lower  masts,  they  are,  when  the  topsail  is  off 
them  and  the  topmast  down,  like  a  Bochelle  cutter 
without  her  topsail,  at  once  under  snug  canvas. 

A  very  different  and  now  quite  extinct  form  of  early 
cutter  is  the  old  English  packet,  revenue  cruiser,  and 
despatch-boat  of  Nelson's  day.  Her  rig  is  that  of  the 
old  Margate  hoy,  the  Leith  sloop,  and  English  Channel 
packet-boat,  that  Turner  has  shown  us  "  coming  in," 
in  his  "Calais  Pier." 

His  Majesty  William  III.'s  cutter,  Youngfrau, 
described  by  Marryatt  in  "  Snarleyyow,"  must  have 
been  one  of  this  class  of  vessels,  "  which  in  1699," 
he  tells  us,G£  protected  the  revenue  against  the  impor- 
tation of  alamodes  and  lutestrings. 'P 

These  old  cutters  were  generally  clench-built  up  to 
the  deck,  and  the  topmast  was  stepped  abaft  the  mast- 
head. How  it  stood  the  strain  of  the  great  square 
topsail  is  a  mystery.  In  all  old  ships  the  mast-heads 
and  heels,  or  doublings,  were  shorter  than  they  are 
now,  and  topmasts  must  have  been  always  lowered  in 
bad  weather,  or  lost.  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel,  writing 
in  1690,  speaks  of  "  the  heads  of  our  lower  masts  as 
too  short,  which  occasions  our  loss  of  many  topmasts." 
As  this  early  English  cutter  was  one  of  the  most 
heavily  sparred  and  fastest  vessels  of  her  time,  and  had 
a  reputation  for  speed  even  among  French  eight eenth- 


f  I;/:.;  v/i^.      ;$[ ' 


I  f  I!  Wi 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,  ETC.,  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.   G5 

century  ship-builders,  I  give  here  the  principal  dimen- 
sions of  one,  with  the  length  of  her  spars,  etc.,  taken 
from  an  old  French  work  on  shipping,  in  which  we  are 
told  "  that  some  vessels  of  this  class  were  built  for  the 
naval  port  of  Brest. " 

DIMENSIONS  OF  HULL. 


Length  from  stem  to  stern-post 



ft.     in. 
50     0 

Rake  of  stem 

1  10 

Rake  of  stern-post 

1     4 

Midship  beam  ... 

21     0 

Length  of  floor  timbers  amidship 

...          ... 

10    8 

Rise  of  floor  amidship    . 

1     5 

Height  of  wing-  transom* 



10     2 

SPARS. 

Length. 

Diameter. 

Head. 

ft.    in. 

in. 

ft.  in. 

Mainmast             ...          71     6 

17 

6     6 

Bowsprit              ...         49     0 

15 

Boom       49     0 

12 

End 

Gaff          24     0 

7*       ... 

1     5 

Topmast              ...         26     0 

6*       ... 

5     6 

Mainyard             ...         39     0 

7*       ... 

3     3 

Topsail-yard        ...          29     0 

6*       ... 

3     3 

Topgallant-yard              24     0 

6 

2    2 

Studding-sail  boom        21     0 

6 

*  "  Wing-transom."  This  term  in  naval  architecture  is,  I  think, 
derived  from  the  name  of  the  long  projecting  sides  of  the  counter,  or 
overhanging  stern  platform,  common  to  all  galleys,  xebecs,  and 
feluccas  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  which,  probably  from  their  resem- 
blance to  the  closed  ends  of  a  sea-bird's  wings  at  rest  upon  the  water, 
were  known  as  "les  ailes  de  galere ;  "  the  wing-transom  being  the 
transom  or  cross  beam  which  supported  and  connected  these  wings 
with  the  stern-post. 


66 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         67 

This  studding-sail  boom  was  an  addition  to  the 
main  boom,  run  out  to  extend  the  sheet  of  a  studding- 
sail,  or  " ringtail,"  set  abaft  the  mainsail  in  light  winds. 
According  to  a  very  fine  old  rigged  model  of  one  in  the 
Naval  Museum  at  the  Hague,  these  cutters  carried  a 
jib-topsail,  and  both  lower  and  topmast  studding-sails, 
set  much  as  they  are  (or  were)  in  square-rigged  ships. 
This  ancient  lower  studding-sail  was  probably  the 
origin  of  the  spinnaker  in  our  modern  racing  cutter. 

There  is  one  feature  which  the  English  cutter  of 
to-day  shares  with  that  much  older  type  of  fast  vessel, 
the  Arab  dhow,  namely,  a  deep  heel,  or  great  draught 
of  water  aft,  in  proportion  to  her  forward  draught. 
This  feature  has  always  been  retained  in  our  cutters  ; 
indeed,  in  the  modern  racing  cutter,  this  cutting  away 
of  forward  depth  of  keel  has  of  late  been  carried  farther 
than  in  any  other  vessel — the  Arab  dhow,  I  think? 
excepted.  But  many  of  our  recent  racing  yachts,  with 
their  deep  leaden  keels,  are  in  model  little  more  than 
an  axe  blade  on  edge,  going  through  the  water,  with- 
out rising  to  a  sea,  with  the  force  of  a  heavy  fly-wheel 
of  some  eighty  tons  weight. 

It  was  formerly  said  of  horse-racing  that  it 
improved  the  breed  of  English  horses,  and  of  yacht- 
racing  that  it  led  to  improvements  in  naval  archi- 
tecture. Of  late  this  has  certainly  not  been  the  case 


68  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

with  either  sport ;  for  our  racers  are  good  for  nothing 
else,  while  even  if,  in  these  days  of  steam,  any  improve- 
ment were  wanted  in  sailing-vessels,  it  could  hardly  be 
looked  for  among  our  yachts,  up  to  a  certain  size, 
especially  since  the  introduction  of  outside  lead  ballast 
and  sliding  keels.  I  say  "  up  to  a  certain  size," 
because  there  is  a  point  at  which  excessive  draught 
of  water,  and  the  strain  upon  spars  and  canvas, 
resulting  from  an  unlimited  amount  of  stability,  acts 
as  a  check  upon  the  use  of  lead  and  leverage ;  so  that 
very  large  sailing-yachts  must  still  be  built  with  some 
kind  of  ship-shape  form  about  them. 

In  more  than  one  of  our  recent  larger  racing 
yachts,  the  after  corner,  or  clew  of  the  mainsail, 
though  made  up  of  eight  thicknesses  of  new  canvas, 
has  proved  too  weak  to  stand  the  strain  of  her  main- 
sheet  in  a  breeze. 

Some  years  ago  (1851?),  when  the  New  York 
pilot-boat  (for  she  was  nothing  more),  the  America, 
came  to  England  and  beat  our  best  yachts,  there  was 
one  man,  Mr.  Weld,  of  Lulworth  Castle,  a  first-rate 
amateur  yacht-builder  and  sailor,  who  seemed  to  under- 
stand the  situation,  and  who  soon  made  alterations 
in  his  yacht,  the  Alarm,  which  enabled  her  to  meet 
the  new-comer.  My  old  friend,  Mr.  John  Nichols,  was 
Mr*  Weld's  racing  skipper,  and  chancing  one  day  to 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


69 


see  some  draughts  of  old  French  eighteenth-century 
war-ships,  said,  "  Why,  here  is  exactly  the  Alarm's 
middle  section !  Squire  Weld  must  have  seen  this 
book."  I  mention  this  merely  to  show  how  far 
advanced  naval  architecture  was  in  France  a  hundred 
years  back  ;  for  few  men  have  a  better  eye  for  a  really 


Yacht  Henrietta. 

.*•   .;    . ;,  v 

fine  sailing  model  than  Captain  John  Nichols,  one  of 
the  longest-headed  yachtsmen  in  Southampton.  But 
to  give  the  yachts  and  their  wings  their  due,  especially 
the  American  yachts,  I  believe  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
a  finer  instance  of  really  efficient  fore  and  aft  sail- 
power,  with  every  inch  doing  its  work,  than  is  shown 
in  this  portrait  of  the  schooner  Henrietta,  winner  from 


70  OLD   SEA   WINGS,    WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

two  other  American  schooners  of  a  race  from  New 
York  to  Cowes  Koads,  the  distance  being  sailed  in 
fourteen  days. 

The  speed  and  power  of  working  to  windward  of 
these  American  schooners  was  greatly  helped  by  the 
wonderful  fit  and  cut  of  their  sails,  for  which  all  the 
New  York  river  craft  and  coasters  were  remarkable  ; 
and  I  believe  that  New  York  sailmakers  owe  this  knack 
of  making  sails  set  flat  to  their  Dutch  and  Swedish 
ancestors,  every  stitch  of  whose  canvas  was,  and  is, 
always  cut  and  set  to  the  greatest  advantage.  This 
yacht,  Henrietta,  like  the  America,  was  simply  a  glorified 
New  York  pilot-boat,  a  class  of  schooner  built  expressly 
for  speed  and  cruising  in  all  weathers  in  the  Atlantic. 
Our  Liverpool  pilot-boats,  which  work  in  St.  George's 
Channel,  are  not  unlike  these  New  York  boats,  but 
built  to  meet  shorter  tidal  waves,  etc. 

It  is,  I  think,  owing  very  much  to  the  entirely 
different  character  of  wave  met  with  upon  American 
and  English  yacht  racecourses,  that  our  yachts  have 
been  so  unsuccessful  when  competing  with  American 
vessels  in  their  own  waters. 

Any  one  who  has  had  experience  with  a  full-bodied 
beamy  vessel  in  working  to  windward  in  a  breeze,  with 
a  strong  English  tide  under  her,  will  understand  this. 
Such  a  boat,  even  with  a  fine  bow,  must  rise  to  each 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         71 

steep  wall  of  water,  and  has  nearly  all  the  life  knocked 
out  of  her,  so  far  as  headway  goes ;  whereas  a  longer, 
deeper  vessel,  though  wet  enough,  will  hold  her  way 
clean  through  these  short  steep  seas,  in  place  of  tossing 
up  her  bows  at  them.  It  is  in  this  sort  of  tidal  sea 
that  a  yacht  of  the  Irex  type  would  lead  the  way, 
though  in  smooth  water,  or  over  longer  and  truer- 
running  Atlantic  seas,  she  might  be  beaten  by  an 
American  flatter-floored  sloop-rigged  yacht,  especially 
when  fitted  with  a  sliding  keel. 

Though  Captain  Shanks,  of  our  navy,  was  the 
inventor  of  the  central  movable  keel  nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago,  when  it  was  tried  in  the  revenue  cutter 
Trial,  it  is  to  the  Americans  that  we  are  indebted 
for  the  centre-board  boat,  a  skimming-dish  form  of 
naval  architecture  which  has  produced  a  large  crop 
of  second-rate  amateur  boat-sailers ;  in  fact,  though 
in  an  English  tide-rip  these  boats  are  about  the  wettest 
and  most  uncomfortable  of  small  craft,  they  are  so 
handy  in  smooth  shallow  waters  that  they  may  be 
called  the  landlubber's  boat.  There  is  a  record,  how- 
ever, in  the  Naval  Chronicle,  vol.  viii.  p.  76,  "of  a 
voyage  made  by  a  Lieutenant  Grant,  to  and  from 
Australia  in  the  Lady  Nelson  store-ship  of  sixty  tons, 
which  was  fitted  with  three  sliding  keels  on  Captain 
Shanks's  plan.  Lieutenant  Grant  reported  well  of  this 


72  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

vessel,  as  particularly  adapted  for  purposes  of  discovery. 
This  was  in  1801,  and  she  was  the  first  English  ship 
that  passed  the  strait  between  New  Holland  and  Van 
Diernen's  Land." 

In  most  of  the  craft  which  work  both  at  sea  and 
among  the  shallow  lagoons  round  Venice,  the  rudder 
is  so  arranged  that  its  action  upon  the  boat  in  deep 
water  is  almost  that  of  a  centre-board — the  form  of 


Venetian  craft,  with  rudder  going  below  line  of  keel. 

hull  and  position  of  the  after  canvas  making  this 
action  coincide  nearly  with  the  centre  of  effort  of 
the  boat's  sails.  These  deep  curved  rudders,  which 
are  very  like,  and  act  much  in  the  same  way  as, 
the  rudder  of  a  Yorkshire  coble,  are  hung  with  great 
care,  and  fitted  with  a  purchase  or  tackle  for  hoisting 
clear  of  the  ground  in  shoal-water;  and  the  lagoon- 
sailor,  who  perhaps  often  owed  his  safety  in  bygone 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         73 

times  to  the  small  draught  of  his  vessel,  still  keeps 
all  the  splendid  iron-work  about  them  not  only  well 
oiled,  but  even  brightly  polished ;  while  the  rudder- 
heads  are  lovingly  enriched  with  carving  and  pictures 
of  the  Virgin  or  of  some  patron  saint. 


74:  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,  AND    WORDS, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WHERRY-BUILT    BOATS. 

Probably  of  Norse  origin — The  Portsmouth  and  Rjde  wherry — The 
old  bumboat,  etc. — Norfolk  wherry — Yoke  steering  gear,  etc. — 
Spritsails — The  London  barge — Her  rig,  lee-boards,  and  sail- 
rudder — Antiquity  of  the  Thames  barge — A  thirteenth-century 
ship. 

THERE  is  a  distinct  connection  between  the  words 
"wherry,"  a  light  passage-boat,  and  " ferry,"  the 
passage;  Shakespeare  using  the  word  "  ferry  "  for 
the  boat  itself.  The  term  "  wherry-built,"  as  used  by 
boat-builders,  means  a  boat  without  a  wing-transom, 
the  ends  of  all  the  after  planks  terminating  in  the 
stern-post,  just  as  the  bow  planks  do  in  the  stem. 
The  true  wherry,  as  an  open  boat,  has  no  gunwale, 
and,  if  decked,  no  top  rail  to  her  bulwarks;  the 
side  timbers  being  all  carried  up  through  the  water- 
ways, as  high  as,  or  in  some  cases  a  trifle  above,  the 
top  strake. 

This  fashion  of  building  appears  to  be  of  Norse 
or  Viking  origin  ;  most  of  the  lighter  Norwegian  skiffs 
and  boats  being  so  built.  Wherries  are  generally 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         75 

clench-built,  with  comparatively  light  timbers  rather 
far  apart,  which  may  have  led  to  this  mode  of  con- 
structing the  bulwarks  or  upper  works  without  gun- 
wales, of  vessels  chiefly  employed  in  peaceful  trade, 
upon  inland  waters. 

The  "  trim-built  wherry  "  of  the  old  London  Thames 
waterman  is  now,  I  think,  almost  an  extinct  craft, 
though,  with  its  long  overhanging  stern,  very  like  that 
of  a  Turkish  caique,  it  was  one  of  the  pleasantest 
of  water- coaches  to  step  in  or  out  of,  at  low  water  or 
half  tide,  from  some  old-fashioned  shelving  Thames 
hard.  These  boats  were,  however,  without  wings,  and 
used  only  under  "  sculls  "  or  "  oars,"  according  to  the 
means  or  time  at  the  disposal  of  those  hiring  them. 

The  square-sterned,  dandy-rigged  skiff  of  the  Lower 
Thames  waterman — another  class  of  boat  which,  like 
the  wherry,  is  built  without  a  gunwale — still  remains 
among  us ;  and  though  now  rarely  patronized  by  the 
"quality"  below  London  Bridge,  she  may  often  be 
seen  plying  among  shipping  at  Gravesend,  or  even 
as  far  seaward  as  the  Downs. 

First  among  the  true  wherries  come  those  of  Ports- 
mouth and  Kyde ;  and  for  all-round  good  qualities  few 
open  boats  to-day  excel  these  old  sea-cabs,  which, 
before  the  days  of  steam,  worked  the  ferry  in  all 
weathers  between  the  main  and  the  Isle  of  Wight. 


7(>  OLD   SEA    WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

Steam  has  shortened  this  passage,  but  it  has  not 
cheapened  it ;  for  the  poet  Gray,  in  a  letter  dated 
Southampton,  1764,  describes  the  charms  of  a  voyage 
from  there  to  West  Cowes,  made  in  two  hours,  for  the 
small  sum  of  sixpence  ! 

The  smaller    class  of   these  Portsmouth  wherries 
still  hold  their  own,  and  ply  for  hire  from  the  common 


OKI  Portsmouth  wherry. 

hards  of  Portsmouth  and  Southampton — the  same 
old  bumboats  that  in  Nelson's  time  tended  our  fleets 
winter  and  summer  out  among  the  punishing  tide- 
rips  of  Spithead.  Their  masts  being  short,  when  the 
long  sprit  is  down,  and  the  mainsail  brailed  in,  with 
the  foresail  and  mizzen  all  within  board,  the  wherry 
is  at  once  under  storm  canvas ;  while,  without  her 
sprit,  the  low  mast  of  a  wherry  made  her  extremely 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         77 

handy  when  going  alongside  an  old-fashioned  line-of- 
battle  ship,  below  all  the  projecting  boats,  booms, 
davits,  etc. 

Besides  sailing  well,  a  wherry  rows  splendidly, 
and,  built  of  oak  and  copper-fastened,  is  nearly 
imperishable,  descending  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion of  watermen ;  and  though  I  have  lived  for  years 
among  them,  I  never  remember  seeing  an  entirely 
new  wherry,  or  one  that  was  thought  past  repair  or 
work.  Certain  boats  of  this  kind  did  not  always 
confine  their  operations  to  tending  our  fleet  at  Spit- 
head,  but  now  and  then  took  a  trip  across  Channel 
after  a  small  cargo  of  spirits,  etc.  And  some  thirty 
years  ago  quite  a  small  open  wherry,  which  still  plies 
for  hire  under  the  sporting  name  of  the  Johnny 
Broome,  was  intercepted  on  a  stormy  morning  some 
miles  outside  the  Needles  by  a  revenue  cruiser, 
before  her  crew  of  two  men  had  time  to  get  rid  of 
her  little  cargo  of  tubs.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that,  owing 
to  fatigue  and  the  coarseness  of  the  weather,  these 
bold  smugglers  were  not  altogether  sorry  to  be  picked 
up,  even  by  a  revenue  cutter. 

The  model  of  the  wherry  is  very  like  that  of 
another  fine  sea-boat,  the  Scotch  herring- skiff,  one 
of  which  chancing  somehow  to  wander  south  among 
the  Southampton  watermen,  was  at  once  recognized 


78 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


by  them,  and,  rigged  as  a  wherry,  was  found  to  sail  as 
well  as  the  best  of  these  boats  of  her  length.  Though 
called  wherries,  the  low,  beamy,  roomy-cabined  craft 
of  the  Norfolk  broads  are  evidently  built  with  a 


Norfolk  wherry. 

view  to  smooth-water  navigation ;  while  their  long- 
pinioned,  high-peaked  single  sail  looks  almost  as 
though  it  may  have  once  been  a  lateen,  or  lateen-cut 
lug,  which  is  indeed  a  favourite  sail  among  small 
yachts  and  pleasure-boats  upon  these  "  broads." 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         79 

Some  of  the  Norfolk  wherries  measure  thirty  or  forty 
tons,  and  in  all  of  them  the  heavy  mast  is  pivoted  in 
a  kind   of  tabernacle,  and  so  weighted   at   the   heel 
below  with  iron  or  lead  as  to  be  easily  lowered  and 
raised,  like  a  river-steamer's  funnel,  in  passing  abridge. 
Spite    of   the    conservative    power   of    salt   water 
among  boats  and  men,  purity  of  breed,  or  type  of  build 
and  rig,  is  not  nearly  so  persistent  to-day  as  it  was 
formerly;    and  I  regret  to  have  to  record  that  even 
the  waterman   of  the   "  nineteenth   century "   is  not 
entirely  free  from  the  restless  love  of  change  of  the 
times ;   his   old  wherry  being  often  seen  now  with  a 
longer  mast   and  gaffsail,  in  place  of  the  good  old- 
fashioned  spritsail ;  while  owing  perhaps  to  bad  times 
and  low  fares,  together  with   the  expensive  build  of 
a  true  wherry,  her  place  is  often  filled  to-day  by  some 
mongrel  kind  of  craft,  usually  an  old  ship  or  steamer's 
boat,  bought  for  a  mere  song,  and  rigged  as  a  ketch, 
but  with  little  else  about  her  to  remind  one  of  the  true 
Portsmouth  wherry.     Before  leaving  these  boats,  the 
fact  that  they  are  almost  always  steered  with  a  yoke 
and  lines  instead  of  a  tiller,  must  not  be  overlooked ; 
though  the  original  yoke  of  the  wherry  was  in  reality 
only  a  tiller  or  wooden  bar,  thrust  through  a  hole  in 
her  rudder-head  at  a  right  angle  to  the  line  of  the 
boat's  keel. 


80  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

This  arrangement  is  found  in  many  other  boats 
with  outside  rudder-heads,  particularly  in  Norway, 
where,  in  place  of  yoke-lines,  this  transverse  tiller  in 
the  smaller  skiffs  is  worked  by  a  single  long  rod  or 
staff  jointed  to  one  end  of  the  tiller,  the  other  end  of 
the  staff  reaching  well  forward  into  the  boat,  where 
the  rudder  is  moved  to  port  or  starboard  by  a  forward 
pull  or  a  backward  thrust  of  this  rod. 

This  plan  does  not  interfere,  any  more  than  yoke- 
lines  do,  with  the  mizzen  of  a  boat,  or  with  an  after 
load  of  passengers ;  while  the  action  of  the  rigid  staff 
gives  the  steersman  a  quicker  and  truer  sense  of  the 
position  of  his  rudder  in  a  seaway  than  yoke-lines  ever 
do.  There  is,  perhaps,  some  connection  between  this 
old  Norse  method  of  steering  and  the  obsolete  sea- 
term  "whipstaff,"  a  piece  of  wood  fastened  to  the 
helm  or  tiller,  held  by  those  steering  a  vessel  before 
steering-wheels  came  into  use. 

A  spritsail,  as  fitted  and  used  to  gain  a  lofty  peak 
with  a  short  mast,  is  essentially  an  English  or  Northern 
sail ;  for  though  the  Turks  have  a  vessel  which  carries 
a  sprit,  it  is  used  in  her  to  extend  the  head  of  a  kind 
of  squaresail  abaft  the  mast,  the  peak  of  which  is  no 
higher  than  the  mast-head. 

Like  the  wherry,  the  Thames  sailing-barge,  in  all 
her  details  and  bright  colours,  dates  back  for  centuries, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         81 

and  is  even  to-day  a  very  flourishing  old-world  craft 
indeed,  which,  spite  of  steam-lighters,  tugs,  etc.,  is 
still  found  economically  well  adapted  for  the  carriage, 
not  only  of  heavy  goods  like  bricks  and  machinery, 
but  of  lofty  deck-loads  of  hay  and  straw;  while  her 
very  light  draught  makes  her  one  of  the  handiest  of 
vessels  for  the  winding  navigation  of  the  Thames,  both 
above  and  below  London,  and  enables  her  to  work  her 
way  close  inshore,  and  thus  take  advantage  of  every 
tidal  eddy  in  plying  to  windward  against  tide,  or,  as  an 
old  pilot  would  say,  "to  hug  a  bight  and  shun  a  p'int," 
when  doing  so.  And  this,  with  the  splendid  set  of  her 
perfectly  wind-tight  sails,  dressed  with  fish-oil  and 
ochre,  and  her  power  of  holding  way  as  she  shoots  up 
in  the  wind  in  going  about,  makes  it  hard  for  even  a 
fast-sailing  boat  to  beat  one.  The  sprit  of  a  London 
barge  is  certainly  the  longest  and  heaviest  spar  of  its 
kind,  and  is  supported  in  the  middle  by  a  stout 
tackle  from  the  mast-head;  while,  owing  to  the  fixed 
position  of  the  head  of  a  spritsail,  it  cannot  be  reduced 
by  reefing  beyond  the  single  row  of  reef-points,  tied  up 
at  times  to  allow  a  load  of  straw  to  be  carried  below 
the  sail. 

This  is  one  drawback  to  these  large  spritsails, 
which,  instead  of  being  reefed  as  the  wind  freshens, 
are  gathered  in  toward  the  mast,  foot  by  foot,  by  a 

G 


82  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

number  of  brails.  There  are  two  distinct  classes  of 
these  sailing-barges — one,  known  as  the  dumpy,  with- 
out a  topmast;  the  other  as  a  topsail-barge,  which,  like 
the  Eochester  bawley,  carries  a  topmast  as  long,  or 


Topsail  Thames  barge. 

longer,  than  her  lower  mast.  The  topsail-barge  also 
carries  a  jib  and  bowsprit ;  but  this  bowsprit  is  so 
arranged  that  when  not  wanted  in  working  among  a 
crowd  of  shipping,  or  at  anchor,  it  can  easily  be  triced 
up  on  end  out  of  the  way ;  while,  for  passing  bridges, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


83 


the  barge's  short-mast  and  long-sprit  are  lowered 
together  aft  on  deck,  or  to  any  required  angle,  by 
means  of  her  windlass  and  a  huge  fourfold  block- 
purchase  at  the  end  of  the  fore  stay. 

The  lee-boards,  upon  which  a  barge's  handiness 
and  power  of  holding  way  to  windward  so  much 
depend,  are  also  fitted  with  blocks  and  chain-tackle 
falls,  which,  like  those  in  a  Dutch  schuyt,  lead  aft, 


Barge,  with  sail  reduced  by  brails,  or  sixty  tons  of  bricks,  in  a  squall. 

close  to  the  steersman's  hand,  who  can  thus  raise 
or  lower  them  as  wanted.*  When  light,  the  barge's 
stability  depends  entirely  upon  her  flat  bottom,  and 
should  the  weather  edge,  or  "  chine,"  of  it  be  once 
lifted  out  of  water  she  stands  a  good  chance  of 
capsizing. 

*  A  deep-sea  sailor,  having  shipped  on  board  a  London  barge,  was 
greatly  at  a  loss  to  understand  her  skipper's  command,  "Hoist  up 
the  weather  lee-board." 


84  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WOKDS, 

A  pair  of  long  stout  peak  or  sprit  "  vangs,"  as  the 
ropes  and  tackles  which  prevent  a  barge's  sprit  from 
sagging  away  to  leeward  are  called,  are  also  a  leading 
feature  of  this  rig,  and,  when  sailing  on  a  wind,  the 
weather  one  is  always  as  taut  as  a  bar.  The  lofty 
peak  of  a  lateener's  yard  is  also  furnished  with  vangs, 
or  "1'oste,"  which  lead  aft,  and  act  upon  it  in  the  same 
way  that  these  ropes  do  upon  a  barge's  sprit.  A 
barge's  tiny  mizzen-mast  is  the  only  mast  of  the  kind, 
I  believe,  actually  stepped  upon  a  rudder-head;  and 
with  its  sheet  made  fast  to  the  after  end  of  the  broad 
rudder,  the  little  sail  is  really  a  second  rudder  in  the 
air,  acting  in  unison  with  the  one  below  it  in  the 
water. 

I  can  never  see  one  of  these  great  sailing-barges, 
in  an  upper  reach  of  the  Thames  or  Medway,  without 
feeling  admiration  and  respect  for  the  ingenuity  which 
contrived  a  vessel  that,  with  a  draught  of  some  three 
feet,  can,  handled  by  two  men,  carry  sixty  or  eighty 
tons  of  bricks  or  coal  to  where  she  lies,  far  up  among 
the  fresh-water  weeds  and  lilies,  with  all  that  tangle 
of  rope,  mast,  and  brown  sail  now  flat  upon  her  deck, 
yet  so  easily  raised  or  lowered  *  as  she  passed  a  bridge  ; 

*  A  topsail-barge  will  charge  a  bridge  like  that  of  Rochester  with 
topmast  on  end,  and  lower  it  and  mainmast,  holding  her  way  through 
the  bridge,  and  hoisting  sail  again  after  passing  it  before  losing  way. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


85 


and  with  scarce  any  freeboard  and  hold  of  the  water, 
yet  able  with  her  great  lee-boards  to  hold  a  fine  wind, 
or  turn  in  her  length,  and  make  long  voyages  round 
stormy  headlands  almost  out  of  sight  of  land. 

In  truth,  if  much  of  the  shipping  of  the  Middle 
Ages  was  as  well  found  and  fitted  for  its  work  as  this 
London  barge,  of  which  we  have  authentic  records  in 
pictures  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  naval  architecture 


Some  fourteenth-century  ships  (as  usually  drawn  for  us). 

could  not  have  been  far  behind  that  of  the  land.  And 
yet  one  is  constantly  asked  to  accept,  as  a  portrait  of 
a  fourteenth  century  sea-going  ship,  some  such  quaint 
old  decorative  picture  of  her  as  the  above,  or  even  the 
heraldic  device,  which  poses  as  a  ship,  in  the  arms  of 
the  city  of  Paris. 

As  I  have  tried  to  show,  nothing  connected  with 
seafaring  matters,  or  men,  before  the  introduction  of 


86  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

steam,  ever  moved  in  a  rapid  or  striding  way,  and  it 
is  most  unlikely  that  ships  leaped,  so  to  speak,  from 
these  old  nondescript  manuscript  or  heraldic  craft, 
to  ships  like  the  Genoese  carrack  and  others  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  Southern  seamen,  it  is  true,  were 
very  likely  in  advance  of  the  Normans  as  to  size  and 
decoration  in  their  vessels  ;  but  I  suspect  that  we  need 
not  go  farther  back  than  the  present  single  square- 
sailed  coaster  of  Norway  for  a  true  picture  of  the 
smaller  square-rigged  thirteenth-century  ship. 


IN   THE   DAYS   OF   OAK   AND  HEMP.  87 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"  UP    TO    THE    SEA,"    ETC. 

Dutch  fishing- boats  at  Scheveningen —  Italian  lake-craft:  their 
rudders,  and  those  of  Rhine  boats — The  "  timoneer  " — Rig  and 
sailof  lake-craft,  "  robands,"  etc.:  their  low  bow — The  Arab 
dhow — St.  Paul's  ship — Slavers,  etc. — A  Baltimore  clipper — The 
ten-gun  brigs — Distinction  between  the  true  brig,  or  brigantine, 
and  snow — The  English  experimental  brig,  Flying-fish — The 
end  of  British  naval  sailing  seamanship — H.M.S.  steam-frigate 
Firebrand. 

A  LEE  shore,  the  dread  of  most  sailors,  is  the  only  port 
of  many  Dutch  fishermen ;  and  a  fleet  of  Scheveningen 
boats  putting  to  sea  after  much  heaving  and  hauling 
upon  warps  from  anchors  ashore  and  seaward,  and 
then  working  out  under  canvas,  with  a  flowing  tide 
among  the  breakers,  is  a  sight  not  easily  forgotten. 

The  boats  all  lie  upright,  like  a  flock  of  surf  ducks, 
the  broad  central  keel  resting  upon  the  sand,  while 
their  floating  bodies  just  lift  them  off  the  ground  with 
each  roll  of  the  sea.  This  central  keel  is  slightly 
curved  or  "  cambered,"  so  that  even  before  the  boat 
is  really  clear  of  the  sand,  which  becomes  very  loose 
as  the  tide  flows,  she  is  easily  slewed,  or  turned  head 


88 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


to  wind  and  sea,  by  capstan  power  on  board  her. 
Unlike  most  beach  boats,  the  Scheveningen  boats  are 
seldom,  except  for  repairs,  or  when  out  of  commission, 
hauled  up  high  and  dry — if  one  can  use  such  a  term 
in  a  land  where  people  oftener  go  up  than  "  down  to 
the  sea  in  ships  " — the  usual  plan  being  to  merely 


Scheveningen  boat. 

run  them  in  upon  the  flat  shore  with  an  ebbing  tide, 
and  then,  with  an  anchor  to  seaward,  to  let  them 
bump  until  the  tide  leaves  them,  when  the  catch  of 
fish  is  hoisted  out,  and  the  nets  cleaned  and  repaired 
ready  for  use  again,  when  the  boat  puts  to  sea  upon 
the  next  flood. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         89 

These  boats,  which  are  sloop-rigged,  and  just  twice 
as  long  as  they  are  broad,  carry  from  eight  to  ten  men. 
They  are  clench-built  of  inch  oak  plank,  fastened  with 
iron  nails,  but  pegged  to  the  inside  timbers  with  oaken 
"  tree-nails. "  Unless  it  be  a  London  omnibus,  it  is 
hard  to  conceive  of  anything  put  together  by  man, 
stronger  for  its  weight  than  one  of  these  Dutch  fishing- 
boats  ;  and  the  fit  and  bend  of  plank  round  their  very 
bluff  bows  or  breasts  is  fine  manly  work. 

The  external  stem  is  merely  an  abutment  for  the 
ends  of  these  planks,  which  are  nailed  to  a  very  broad 
inner  stem  or  "  apron/'  in  which  also,  where  it  rises 
on  either  side  the  stem,  is  cut  a  score  or  crutch  on  the 
port  side  for  the  bowsprit,  and  upon  the  starboard  for 
the  hawse-pipe  to  rest  in ;  the  bowsprit  being  kept  in 
place  above  by  a  movable  iron  strap.  They  are  all 
decked  boats,  with  low  bulwarks  planked  to  timber 
ends,  which  (there  being  no  top-rail  or  gunwale)  project 
above  the  bulwarks  as  in  many  of  our  old-fashioned 
wherry-built  craft.  When  new,  the  Scheveningen  boats 
are  bright  and  golden  with  pine  varnish ;  but,  beyond 
here  and  there  a  patch  of  brown  tar,  the  older  boats 
are  left  bare,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  trace  every  fibre  of 
the  oak  in  their  grey,  weather-stained  planks ;  though, 
strange  to  say,  one  rarely  sees  a  sign  of  rust  about 
the  large  iron  nail-heads.  Some  of  the  nails  and 


90  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

rivets  found  in  remains  of  the  Viking  ships  are  of  the 
exact  size  and  pattern  of  the  nails  used  in  these  boats. 
Beyond  some  device  like  a  big  heart,  or  a  swan, 
painted  upon  each  side  of  the  bluff  bow,  with  some- 
times a  touch  of  red,  green,  or  yellow  about  the  hawse- 
pipe,  they  are  without  decoration.  Their  sails  are, 
however,  dressed,  like  those  of  a  Thames  barge,  with 
fish-oil  and  red  or  yellow  ochre.  Like  most  Dutch 
small  craft,  they  are  of  course  provided  with  lee- 
boards,  though,  owing  to  their  central  keel,  they  can 
make  fair  way  to  windward  even  before  the  water  is 
deep  enough  to  allow  a  lee-board  to  be  effectively 
used.  Altogether,  the  Dutch  coasting-craft,  built  to 
withstand  and  contend  against  the  combined  forces  of 
wind,  wave,  and  sand,  and  dependent  solely  upon 
strength  of  timbers,  planks,  and  fastenings,  to  do  so, 
are  second  only  to  their  dikes  as  proofs  of  the  power 
of  this  amphibious  race  over  their  best  servant  and 
worst  enemy,  the  North  Sea. 

In  rig,  the  large  trading-boat  of  Lakes  Como  and 
Maggiore  distinctly  reminds  one  of  the  big,  single- 
masted,  square-sailed  Norwegian  coaster,  mentioned 
at  the  end  of  the  last  chapter ;  while,  owing  to  being 
almost  entirely  cut  off  from  the  world's  broad  highway, 
floating  as  they  do  upon  water  six  hundred  feet  above  it, 
these  lake-boats,  and  all  details  about  them,  no  doubt 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


91 


remain  with  us  to-day  as  a  very  early  type  of  sailing- 
craft.  In  them  the  rudder,  for  instance,  retains  its 
original  form  of  steering  oar,  or  rudder  and  tiller  in 
one,  slung  loosely  to  the  top  of  the  stern-post. 

A  curious  early  modification  of  this  form  of  rudder 
is  found  in  certain  boats  and  barges  on  the  Ehine, 
boats  which,  though  closely  resembling  those  upon  the 
Italian  lakes,  are,  in  navigating  this  river,  brought  into 


Italian  lake-craft  (Como). 

direct  communication  with  sea-going  craft.  In  such 
boats,  though  the  tiller  still  extends  aft  beyond  the 
stern-post,  the  rudder  itself  has  a  distinct  head  and 
"  main-piece,"  hung  bypintals  and  gudgeons,  or  hinged 
to  the  stern-post,  unless,  as  in  some  quite  small  craft,  it 
is  held  in  place  by  simply  passing  through  the  overhang 
or  counter  of  the  boat's  stern. 

The  enormous  rudder  required  by  boats  navigating 


92  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

the  Rhine  and  Rhone  is  due  to  the  strength  of  their 
current,  which  makes  it  impossible  to  steer  a  boat  down 
stream  upon  them  without  a  very  powerful  rudder  and 
long  tiller.  The  Italian  word  "  timone,"  the  helm 
or  tiller  of  a  ship,  means  also  the  pole  of  a  carriage 


Rhine  barge  rudder  and  tiller,  also  rudder  of  boat  on  Lake  Constance. 

and  the  beam  of  a  plough,  and  the  old  sea-term, 
"timoneer,"  or  steersman,  is  of  course  derived  from 
this  word ;  which  is  also  used  by  the  Italians  in  this 
sense,  to  distinguish  the  wheelers,  or  horses  harnessed 
to  the  pole  of  a  carriage  upon  which  the  steering  of 


Side-slung  rudder  on  Lake  Isao. 

it  depends,  from  the  leaders.  The  following  lines,  in 
Falconer's  "  Shipwreck,"  show  how  this  word  was  used 
in  his  time  : — 

"  '  Starboard  again  !  '  the  watchful  pilot  cries. 
*  Starboard  !  '  tbe  obedient  timoneer  replies." 

The  Italians  and  Spaniards  have,  in  fact,  no  word 
which  actually  expresses  the  rudder  as  distinct  from  its 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.         93 

tiller;  the  old  word  "rother,"  so  spelt  by  us  as  late  as 
1678,  and  "  tiller,"  or  "helm,"  being  of  Teutonic  origin; 
while  the  sea-term,  "  helm's  a-lee  " — used  in  tacking 
ship,  and  meaning  that  the  rudder  itself  is  to  windward 
— when  the  tiller  is  put  down,  or  over  to  leeward, 
would  be  nonsense,  if  one  word  stood  for  both  rudder 
and  tiller,  or  helm. 

In  these  primitive  lake-boats  we  have  also  a  very 
early  form  of  squaresail,  slung  so  that  it  can  be  dropped 
instantly  if  struck  by  a  gust  from  between  the  moun- 
tains, and  which,  like  most  sails  used  for  inland 
navigation,  has  a  great  hoist,  and  is  very  square  aloft. 
This  sail  is  divided  down  the  centre,  the  two  parts, 
when  hoisted,  being  held  together  by  a  lacing,  which 
is  cast  loose  before  it  is  lowered,  and  allows  the  great 
sail  to  be  easily  gathered  in  aft  in  two  parts ;  the  long 
mast  itself  being  so  arranged  that  it  can  also  be  rapidly 
lowered  forward — not  aft — when  the  boat  is  running 
before  a  hard  mountain  storm.  The  manner  in  which 
these  sails  are  attached  to  their  yard  throws  a  light 
upon  the  old  word  urobands,"  the  name  of  the  short 
tiers  formerly  used  to  secure  a  squaresail  to  its  yard. 

In  these  boats  the  sail  hangs  from  the  yard  upon 
a  series  of  bands,  or  loops,  made  in  the  head  of  the 
sail,  through  which  the  yard  passes — a  handy  plan,  no 
doubt,  upon  inland  waters,  where  a  sail  left  perma- 


94 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


nently  bent  would  prove  a  strong  temptation  to  the 
first  poor  peasant  landsman  that  might  board  a  boat  in 
the  absence  of  her  owner;  that  sacred  feeling  about 
robbing  a  vessel  of  her  tackling  rarely  extending  far 
above  high  salt-water  mark.  Like  most  very  early 
types,  these  lake-boats,  large  and  small,  are  much 
higher  aft  than  forward,  having  a  look  about  them  of 
the  coot,  seagull,  and  several  other  water  birds,  in  the 
way  they  sit  upon  the  waves.  The  Arab  dhow,  with  her 


Arab  dhow. 

well-arranged  splendid  sail-power  and  lines  of  hull, 
which  really  agree  very  much  with  the  " wave-line" 
theory,  fussed  over  and  said  to  have  been  first  dis- 
covered by  ship-builders  about  forty  years  back,  is 
another  instance  of  this  sharp  low  form  of  hull  forward 
and  lofty  poop. 

Like  the  Chinese,  the  Arab  himself  of  to-day,  and 
all  his  belongings,  is  the  Arab  of  a  thousand  years  ago  ; 
and  I  suspect  that  in  one  of  these  dhows  we  see  pretty 


IN   THE   DAYS   OF    OAK   AND  HEMP.  5»0 

much  the  ship,  though  not  so  large,  in  which  St.  Paul 
was  wrecked — a  vessel  which,  with  her  low  bow  and 
lofty  stern,  might  ride  best,  as  he  describes,  in  a  gale, 
with  four  anchors,  stern  to  sea  and  bow  toward  the 
shore,  ready  for  the  final  rush  landward  when  the 
wished-for  day  broke.  There  is  especial  mention  that  in 
St.  Paul's  ship  the  rudder  was  either  triced  up,  or  very 


Piratical  Chinese  junk. 

carefully  secured,  as  it  would  need  to  be  in  riding 
thus;  for  they  "loosed  the  rudder-bands,  and  hoisted  up 
the  mainsail  to  the  wind,"  before,  "  falling  into  a  place 
where  two  seas  met,  they  ran  the  ship  aground;  and 
the  fore  part  stuck  fast,  and  remained  unmoveable,  but 
the  hinder  part  was  broken  with  the  violence  of  the 
waves."  Which  evidently  points  also  to  a  very  light 


96 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 


draught  forward,  such  as  we  find  in  the  Arab  dhow  and 
other  old-world  craft  of  present  times. 

In  the  piratical  and  smuggling  craft  of  China, 
which  have  much  in  common  with  the  Arab  dhow,  wre 
have,  I  believe,  good  representative  types  of  the  naval 
architecture  and  sail-power  among  the  barbarians,  as 
we  sometimes  call  them,  of  Northern  Asia,  dating  back 
for  centuries.  These  are  all  fast,  weatherly  craft, 


Smuggling  junk. 

quite  unlike  the  heavy  trading  junk,  built  to  sail  only 
before  a  fair  monsoon. 

In  many  of  them  it  is  curious  to  observe  how  the 
fighting  men's  shields  are  ranged  along  outside  the 
top-rail,  just  as  they  were  in  the  old  war-galley  of 
the  Mediterranean,  the  Viking  ships,  and  those  of  other 
European  races. 

Practically,  these  junks   are  all  luggers,  and  the 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         97 

good  qualities  of  the  bamboo-ribbed  sail-wings  of  the 
" heathen  Chinee"  has  of  late  led  to  their  imitation 
and  use  among  some  of  our  smaller  yachts  upon 
English  waters. 

Fifty  years  ago,  the  slave  and  fruit  trades  produced 
a  number  of  very  fast  schooners,  brigs,  and  brigantines  ; 
and,  with  her  long,  low  hull,  and  tall,  raking  rnasts, 


Baltimore  clipper  or  slaver. 

the  Baltimore  clipper  was  probably  the  fastest  of  these. 
In  the  year  1841  the  writer  visited  that  port,  when 
more  than  one  vessel  actually  intended  for  the  slave- 
trade  might  still  be  seen  there  on  the  stocks. 

The  first  thing  that  struck  one  about  these 
schooners  was  their  great  beam  on  deck,  and  the 
flare-out  of  the  top  sides  and  bulwark  forward ;  the 

bow  as  seen  from  above  being  very  broad  and  full  in 

H 


98  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

a  line  across  the  cat-heads,  but  with  a  stem  or  cut- 
water raking  aft  quickly  below  into  lines  of  entrance, 
which  ran  straight  back  at  once  into  the  wedge-like 
underwater  body  of  the  hull.  It  was  this  form  of  hull 
that  gave  a  slaver  so  little  "  head-room "  between 
decks,  or  above  the  platform  below  which  all  the  water 
and  provisions  for  her  living  cargo  was  stowed.  These 
clippers  were  also  remarkable  for  the  small  amount 
of  what  shipwrights  call  "  dead  wood"  below  water; 
that  is,  of  solid  timber  about  the  cutwater  forward,  and 
run  and  stern-post  aft.  Besides  these  schooners,  one 
saw  at  that  time  plenty  of  slaves  sunning  themselves 
on  the  wharves  of  this  old  southern  port,  or  lying 
asleep  in  the  shade  of  shanties,  alongside  of  which, 
perhaps,  lay  the  actual  ship  in  which  some  of  them 
had  endured  all  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage  over 
the  Atlantic. 

The  look,  however,  of  these  lazy,  fat,  jolly  niggers 
did  not  impress  one  with  a  very  vivid  idea  of  the 
cruelty  or  tyranny  of  the  Baltimore  slave-owner. 

Indeed,  it  was  only  after  repeated  assurance  of  the 
fact,  that  one  could  realize  that  these  comfortable- 
looking  fellows  were  slaves,  or  the  personal  property 
of  any  one  but  themselves. 

The  builders  of  the  Baltimore  clippers  were,  many 
of  them  no  doubt,  descendants  of  the  old  shipwrights 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         99 

who,  about  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  learnt 
their  trade  in  building  piratical  small  craft,  which,  in 
the  hands  of  the  buccaneers,  were  the  dread  of  all 
other  traders  to  the  West  Indies,  until  an  expedition 
was  sent  from  England,  commanded  by  that  most 
accomplished  of  privateersmen,  Woodes  Kogers,  to 
extirpate  them.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  slave-trade, 
and  the  speed  of  the  vessels  employed  in  it,  that  a  few 
years  before  the  introduction  of  steam  stirred  the 
Admiralty  to  build  a  number  of  gun-brigs,  designed 
especially  for  speed  in  light  winds.  Of  the  first  series 
of  these — the  ten-gun  brigs — several  were  never  heard 
of  again  after  leaving  port,  having,  it  is  supposed,  either 
capsized,  like  the  Eurydictj  under  sail,  or  foundered  at 
sea  in  bad  weather,  after  having  shipped  more  water 
on  deck  than  the  vessel  was  able,  owing  to  the  height 
of  her  bulwarks  and  insufficient  means  of  exit  for  it, 
to  clear  herself  of.  In  fact,  these  brigs  were  so  con- 
structed that  they  were  little  better  than  open  boats, 
with  the  disadvantage  that  those  in  charge  of  them 
looked  upon  them  as  decked  vessels.  Though  these 
vessels  were  all  called  brigs,  they  would  a  few  years 
before  have  been  known  as  snows.  The  term  "  brig," 
which  is  not  given  in  Johnson,  1760,  is  really  a 
modern  contraction  of  the  older  word  "  brigantine," 
or  "  brigandine,"  from  "  brigand, "  a  robber;  "brigan- 


100 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


tine  "  being  originally  a  general  name  for  any  fast 
vessel  used  by  corsairs  or  pirates.  The  original  brig, 
or  brigantine,  though  she  carried  a  square  maintopsail 
and  topgallant-sail,  never  had  a  square  mainsail  below 
it,  like  that  carried  by  the  snow. 

The  old  brig's  mainmast  was  in  fact  rigged  exactly 


True  brig  of  1780. 

like  a  ship's  mizzen-mast,  and,  like  that  mast,  had 
originally  a  lateen-mainsail  and  yard  upon  it;  and 
this  was,  no  doubt,  one  reason  that  after  this  form  of 
.sail  became  obsolete,  a  squaresail  was  not  set  upon 
what  was  really  the  brig's  crojack-yard.  When  this 
was  afterwards  done  in  the  rig  we  call  a  brig — then 
called  a  snow — the  fore  and  aft  sail  upon  the  main- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


101 


mast,  or  spanker,  was  always  bent  to  hoops  which  ran 
upon  a  small  spar  or  jack-mast  just  abaft  the  main- 
mast;  an  arrangement  which  enabled  this  sail  to  be 
carried  without  interfering  with  the  old  seaman's 
practice  of  lowering  his  mainyard  a-port-last  in  bad 
weather. 

I  close  this  chapter  with  a  portrait  of  the  Flying- 


H.M.  brig  Flying-fish. 

fish  of  twelve  guns,  one  of  the  smartest  of  the  vessels 
known  as  the  experimental  brigs.  She  was  designed 
by  Sir  William  Symonds,  then  director  of  naval  con- 
struction to  the  Admiralty. 

It  will  be  seen  in  her  that,  with  the  more  modern 
way  of  slinging  lower-yards,  the  small  additional  mast, 
abaft  the  mainmast,  sometimes  called  a  trysail-mast 


102  OLD   SEA   WINGS,    WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

is  absent.  I  have  heard  it  said  by  old  naval  men  that 
the  great  square  mainsail  of  these  vessels  was  often 
found  a  very  pressing  and  difficult  sail,  even  for  a 
man-of-war's  crew,  to  handle  in  a  squall ;  and  this  being 
so  may  have  led  to  the  omission  of  it  among  the  older 
class  of  small  trading-brigs,  particularly  in  the  coal 
trade. 


H.M.  steam-frigate  Firebrand. 

The  modern  rig,  often  spoken  of  as  a  brigantine, 
has  no  square-yard  upon  her  mainmast,  which  is  in 
fact  schooner-rigged.  These  vessels  were  first  known 
as  hermaphrodite  brigs. 

In  the  twelve-gun  brigs,  frigates,  and  sailing  line- 
of-battle  ships  of  Sir  William  Symonds's  time,  the 
English  Navy  may  be  said  to  have  reached  its  highest 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        103 

point  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  old-fashioned  sea- 
manship, and  the  handling  of  fleets  under  canvas  only. 
And  how  the  conservative  naval  mind  then  clung  to 
its  old  sea  wings,  is  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  portrait 
of  one  of  our  first  steam-frigates,  the  Firebrandj  on 
p.  102. 


104  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 


CHAPTEK 

OKIGIN    OF    THE    CUTTEK. 

The  only  safe  way  of  learning  to-day  much  about  the  rig  of  ancient 
shipping — Southern  origin  of  the  cutter-rig — The  Brighton 
hoggy — The  old  Itchen  Ferry  rig — Advantages  of  the  cutter- rig 
— American  cutters,  etc. — The  modern  yawl — The  true  yawl  or 
dandy — Drawbacks  to  the  fore-and-aft  rig,  with  the  exception 
of  the  lateen-rig  and  French  lugger,  for  sea-going  ships. 

THEKE  are  few  records  of  sails  and  rigging  of  value 
earlier  than  the  fifteenth  century ;  while  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  for  even  the  little  we  do  know  of  such  matters 
before  then  to  the  work  of  nuns  and  monks,  who  could 
have  had  very  little  practical  knowledge  of  a  ship  or 
her  tackling,  and  at  best  were  able  only  to  give  us 
feeble  impressions  of  vessels  as  they  saw  them.  It  is 
not  surprising,  then,  seeing  the  hash  often  made  of 
such  subjects  by  modern  land-artists,*  that  from  their 
work  we  get  but  a  faint  notion  of  the  ships  even  of 
Norman  times.  If  we  go  back  to  Koman,  Greek,  or 

*  Written  before  the  introduction  of  instantaneous  dry-plate 
photography,  which  enables  any  painstaking  landsman  now  to  draw 
a  modern  vessel  correctly  under  sail. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        105 

Egyptian  art,  the  case  is  much  the  same ;  for,  though 
we  can  from  it  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  look  of  these 
people,  and  their  land  dwellings,  we  have  little  record, 
beyond  certain  conventional  odds  and  ends  of  beaks, 
and  tails,  or  poops,  upon  coins,  of  the  look,  or  tackling, 
of  the  ships  they  sailed  and  fought  in.  A  thousand 
years  hence,  when  our  own  ships  shall  have  all  returned 
to  oxide  of  iron,  and  the  photos  of  them  faded  away, 
what  notion  would  be  obtained  of  a  four-hundred-foot 
ocean  steamer,  or  even  of  an  Inflexible,  from  a  con- 
tracted image  of  her  on  a  penny-piece  ? 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  think  it  likely  that 
to-day  we  may  be  able  to  form  a  better  idea  of  the 
character  and  model  of  a  Viking  galley,  by  carefully 
studying  the  construction  of  certain  present  types  of 
Scotch  fishing-boats,  or  of  an  old  Portsmouth  wherry, 
than  from  any  pictures,  or  by  even  looking  at  the 
unearthed  bones  of  the  ship  herself. 

Again,  a  modern  single-masted  lateener,  seen,  as 
they  often  are  in  fine  weather,  working  short  tacks 
to  windward,  with  the  fore  part  of  her  sail  in  the 
position  known  as  "  abidot,"  or  aback,  when  com- 
pared with  the  rig  of  the  old  Brighton  hog-boat,  or 
"hoggy,"  seems  to  suggest  at  once  how  it  may  have 
occurred  to  some  ancient  sailmaker  to  cut  a  lateen- 
sail  in  the  line  of  the  mast,  and  give  the  fore  part  of 


106  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

the  sail  a  sheet  of  its  own,  and  the  after  part,  which 
would  become  a  balanced  lug,  a  stout  roping  down 


Lateener,  with  sail  "  abidot." 

the  leading  edge ;  while  this  would  be  followed  soon 
by  an  arrangement  of  hoops  on  the  fore  end  of  the 


Brighton  hoggy. 

yard,   so    that    the   now   detached   foresail   could    be 
lowered  in  a  squall,  and  the  boat  at  once  be  relieved 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        107 

to  the  extent  of  a  reef  in  her  mainsail.  With  her 
high-peaked  boomless  mainsail,  the  outline  of  the 
mainsail  and  foresail  together,  of  this  old  Brighton 
fishing-boat,  is,  like  that  of  the  same  two  sails  in  a 
London  barge,  almost  exactly  the  outline  of  a  single 
lateen-sail. 

The  rig  of  the  "hoggy"  is  certainly  an   old  one 
among  the  men  of  the  south  hams  of  England.     She 
is  not  a  true  cutter,  or  even  a  sloop,  as  she  carries  a 
cutter's  running-bowsprit.      But  a  distinct  feature  of 
this  boat  was  that  the  tack  of  her  foresail  and  fore- 
stay  went  to  a  curious  stout  oak  or  ashen   bumpkin, 
which  in  section  was  flat,  rather  than  square  or  round, 
and,  curving  downwards  and  projecting  some  four  feet 
beyond  her  stem,  was  wide  enough  for  a  man  to  stand 
upon,  and  not  unlike  a  rudimentary  form  of  the  beak, 
or  "  flech,"  of  a  lateener.     The  cut  or  shape  of  her  jib, 
which   was    nearly    an    equilateral    triangle,    also   re- 
sembled that  of  many  lateeners. 

Some  of  these  hoggys  had  a  lug-mizzen,  and,  like 
the  Scheveningen  boats,  were  nearly  half  as  wide 
as  they  were  long ;  hence,  perhaps,  their  name  of 
"hoggy."  They  were  flat  floored,  and,  being  fitted 
with  two  strong  bilge-keels,  lay  upright  upon  the 
hard  sand,  as  the  Dutch  boats  do  among  the  low 
breakers  of  a  flat  shore.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 


108  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

rig  of  the  original  Itchen  Ferry  shrimpers  was  almost 
the  same  as  that  of  the  one-masted  Brighton  hoggy ; 
but  they  were  smaller  boats,  and  in  them  the 
bumpkin  was  of  iron,  and  not  longer  than  that  of  a 
Beer  lugger.  Most  of  these  handy  little  craft  now 
have  a  boom-mainsail;  they  are  broad  in  beam  and 
heavily  ballasted,  and,  as  single-handed  boats  in  tidal 
waters,  are  not  easily  surpassed  by  anything  of  their 


Old  Itchen  Ferry  boat. 

size  afloat.  I  have  owned  one,  and  sailed  among 
them  for  more  than  twenty  years,  but  never  knew  one 
come  to  grief,  or  leave  a  widow  and  orphans,  as  so 
often  happens  with  other  small  fishing-boats  of  northern 
ports.  Poetical  writers  aboefut  the  sea  are  fond  of 
dwelling  upon  the  Viking,  and  his  influence  upon 
English  naval  history.  But  though  the  personnel  of 
England's  navy  no  doubt  owed  much  to  these  hardy 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        109 


northern  boatmen  (for  they  were  little  more),  all  our 
earliest  and  more  important  material  improvements 
in  naval  construction  came  from  southern  and  eastern 
nations ;  and  when  cannon  really  begun  to  supersede 
older  weapons  in  Henry  VIII. 's  time,  he  at  once 
called  in  the  assistance  of  Italian  shipwrights,  to 
help  him  build  that  fleet  of  small  ships,  destined, 
under  his  successors,  after  repelling  Spain's  attack 
upon  our  coasts,  to  make  England  mistress  of  the  seas. 

The  fact  is,  these  hardy  Norsemen  were  almost  as 
far  behind  the  architects  of  the  south  in  matters  naval 
as  their  wooden  structures  on  land  were,  compared 
with  the  fortified  cities,  castles,  and  dwellings  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Italy,  Greece,  or  Spain,  who  were, 
indeed,  the  earliest  civilized  rulers  of  the  waves. 

I  have  tried  to  show  that  that  most  effective  rig  to 
windward,  the  cutter,  has  much  really  in  common  with 
the  one  great  triangular  sail-wing  of  the  south.  The 
first  cutters  we  hear  of  in  England  hailed  from  Brixham, 
and  are  mentioned  as  early  as  the  time  of  Elizabeth, 
when  a  Brixham  cutter  was  despatched  by  Drake  to 
carry  news  of  his  first  successes  to  London,  and  bring 
him  back  more  powder ;  while,  as  I  said  before,  it  was 
the  Brixham  men  who,  in  their  fast  cutter-rigged 
smacks,  first  introduced  the  deep-sea  beam  trawl-net 
among  our  northern  fishermen. 


110  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

That  the  cutter  is  the  most  effective  fore-and-aft 
rig  known  is  clearly  proved,  I  think,  by  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  rig  now  adopted  even  by  American  yachtsmen 
to  defend  the  American  cup  under  all  conditions  of 
wind  and  weather.*  For,  in  spite  of  the  American  term 
"  sloop,"  all  their  latest-built  yachts  for  this  business, 
such  as  Volunteer,  etc.,  are  practically  cutters.  Even 
the  modern  yawl  of  the  aristocratic  yachtsman  is  really 
only  a  clipped  cutter  with  a  sort  of  half-bred  flagstaff 
of  a  mizzen  stuck  on  the  end  of  a  very  long  counter, 
to  enable  her  (if  a  racer)  to  claim  the  time  allowance 
given  to  yawls ;  or  to  allow  the  owner  and  his  lady 
guests  an  upright  table  for  their  champagne-bottles 
and  lunch,  as  the  big  ship  jogs  along  under  it  and  her 
head  canvas,  with  a  soldier's  wind,  up  and  down  South- 

*  An  instructive  and  striking  instance  of  the  power  of  a  well- 
handled  fore-and-after  to  face  bad  weather,  were  the  late  attempts 
(February,  1890),  crowned  at  last  with  success,  of  the  Crookhaven 
pilot-cutter  Self-Reliance,  manned  by  a  volunteer  crew,  to  go  to  the 
relief  of  the  starving  light-keepers  on  the  Fastnet  Rock,  after  all 
efforts  to  do  so  by  the  Halcyon  steam  tender,  appointed  for  this  work, 
had  failed.  After  this  it  will  be  surprising  if  the  Trinity  Board  or 
Admiralty  do  not  build  one  or  more  well-modelled,  stout  cutters  of 
fifty  tons,  which,  properly  fitted  with  some  outside  lead,  and  gear  of  a 
reliable  quality  to  match  it,  would,  where  there  was  a  small  harbour 
to  start  from,  prove  more  capable  of  making  their  way  in  a  gale  to  a 
given  point,  and  keeping  the  sea  when  there,  than  any  steam  tender 
or  even  lifeboat;  while,  if  used  for  nothing  else,  such  vessels  would 
prove  handier  and  less  expensive  for  police  work  in  bad  weather 
among  our  North  Sea  smacksmen  than  a  modern  steam  gunboat. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


Ill 


ampton  Water  (which  undoubtedly  she  would  do  quite 
as  well  without  it). 

That  this  class  of  mizzen  has  little  other  use  is 
clear  from  the  fact  that,  in  bad  weather  at  sea,  it 
is  generally  the  first  sail  stowed,  and  when  a  close- 
reefed  mainsail  cannot  be  carried,  that  a  trysail  is  as 
often  the  real  storm  canvas  of  one  of  these  yawls  as 
it  is  of  a  big  cutter.  The  honest  mizzen,  carried  well 
forward  of  the  rudder-head  and  tiller  by  so  many  small 

N 


FIG.  66. — Dandy-rig. 

traders  and  fishermen,  now  known  as  ketches,  but 
really  dandy-rigged,  is  a  very  different  kind  of  sail, 
which  enables  such  vessels  to  be  handled  with  fewer 
men  than  any  cutter,  and,  like  a  wherry,  to  be  snugged 
down  at  once  in  a  hard  wind  under  a  mizzen  and  fore- 
sail. Considering  the  advantages  of  this  rig,  it  is  surpris- 
ing that  it  is  so  rarely  adopted  by  sea-going  yachtsmen. 


112  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

It  may  be  asked  by  landsmen  why,  if  a  cutter,  and 
the  two-masted  cutter-rig  the  schooner,  is  the  most 
effective  rig  to  windward,  is  it  that  most  of  the  sea- 
keeping  sailing-craft  of  the  world  are,  and  have  been, 
nearly  always  square-rigged  vessels  ?  The  answer  is 
that  in  actual  passage-making,  upon  long  ocean 
voyages,  it  is  seldom  that  a  vessel  has  to  depend  for 
any  time  upon  her  power  of  turning  dead  to  windward  ; 
but  rather  upon  a  great  spread  of  canvas,  which  can 
be  carried  in  a  heavy  sea  with  the  wind  abeam,  or  a 
little  abaft  the  beam. 

Again,  in  all  boom-sailed  fore-and-aft  rigs,  the 
difficulty  of  handling  and  steadying  a  large  boom  or 
booms  in  a  seaway  increases  rapidly  with  the  size  of 
the  vessel,  and  becomes  so  great  when  rolling  heavily 
in  a  gale,  that  they  have  to  be  secured  amidships, 
with  the  sail  dependent  upon  them  stowed,  and 
replaced  by  a  boomless  trysail,  or  some  form  of  sail 
bent  to  a  square-yard  for  running  under ;  while  even 
the  sheet  of  a  trysail  in  really  bad  weather  often  proves 
difficult  to  handle.  (The  writer  has  seen  the  crew  of 
an  eight-hundred-ton  ship  unable  to  get  the  sheet  of 
her  main-trysail  or  "  spencer"  aft  until  the  quarter- 
deck capstan  was  rigged,  and  the  sheet-tackle  fall 
taken  to  it  to  be  hove  in.)  In  rolling  along  before 
a  gale,  or  with  one  on  the  quarter,  a  fore-and-after's 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        113 

boom  is,  like  a  ship's  lower  studding-sail  boom,  con- 
stantly in  danger  of  being  caught  by  a  sea ;  with  the 
additional  risk  of  the  sea  breaking  into  the  sail,  and 
either  bursting  it  or  dismasting  the  vessel.  This  is 
an  especial  danger  when,  American  fashion,  the  main- 
sail is  laced  along  the  foot  to  the  boom,  as  it  is  now 
in  most  of  our  racing  yachts. 

The  only  fore-and-aft  sail  for  large  vessels  in  a  sea- 
way not  subject  to  these  drawbacks  was  and  is  the 
old  boomless  lateen-sail  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  some 
modification  of  it  like  the  great  balanced  lugsails  of 
an  old  French  chasse-maree.  But  both  these  rigs, 
owing  to  the  great  weight  and  length  of  their  yards, 
require  a  strong  crew  to  handle  them  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  vessel,  so  that  as  ships  increased  in 
size,  after  the  introduction  of  movable  topmasts,  the 
square-rig  rapidly  superseded  the  lateen  in  all  but 
comparatively  small  craft  engaged  in  the  coasting- 
trade.  One  advantage  of  the  lateen-sail  over  that  of 
other  fore-and-aft  sails  is  that,  like  those  of  a  square- 
rigged  ship,  it  is  reduced  by  reefing  aloft  to  the  yard ; 
while,  in  the  large  French  luggers,  the  weight  and 
stress  of  a  bag  of  reefed  sail  at  the  foot  is  avoided  by 
the  use  of  bonnets  or  bonnet-pieces  laced  to  the  lower 
edge  of  the  sail,  and  easily  detached  by  simply  casting 
this  lacing  adrift. 


114  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

UNDER    SAIL    AND    OAR. 

An  eighteenth-century  galley  —  Arrangement  of  her  benches  and 
oars  for  development  of  man-power — Comparison  between  it 
and  modern  horse-power  of  nineteenth-century  war-ship — The 
carrosse,  or  captain's  cabin,  origin  of  the  "  coach  "  of  our  old 
ships — Rig  of  a  galley  described — A  suggestion — Decorations,  etc. 
— The  galley's  offspring,  the  eighteenth-century  galley-built 
corvette — Mode  of  attack  by  galley,  the  origin  of  the  importance 
attached  by  our  old  seamen  of  always  getting  and  retaining  the 
weather- gauge  of  an  enemy — A  sixteenth-century  sea-fight,  etc. 

UP  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  lateen-rigged 
galleys  of  considerable  size,  rowed  with  from  twenty- 
six  to  thirty  oars  on  a  side,  were  common  enough  iu 
the  Mediterranean  ports ;  and,  as  we  have  really 
authentic  records  and  models  of  these  direct  descen- 
dants of  the  war-ship  or  galley  of  the  Greeks,  Eomans, 
and  Middle  Ages,  I  give  here  a  figure  of  one  of  the 
later  types  of  them,  with  some  details  of  her  fittings 
and  rig,  as  described  by  Lescallier,  who  wrote  just 
before  the  galley  was  laid  aside  in  the  French  Navy, 
superseded  more  or  less  by  the  galley-built  corvette  and 
frigate. 

A  galley  of  the  first  rank,  like  that  given  in  the 


IN   THE  DAYS  OF  OAK   AND  HEMP. 


115 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


I 


figure,  was  166  feet  long, 
with  a  beam  of  from  32  to 
35  feet,  and  rowed  thirty 
oars  on  a  side,  which 
worked  against  thole-pins, 
ranged  upon  a  rail  project- 
ing above  and  beyond  the 
deck,  which  rail  was  sup- 
ported by  a  number  of 
vertical  knee-timbers,  or 
brackets,  called  "bacalas," 
or  "  corps- de-latfces,"  just 
as  the  oars  of  an  Italian 
lake-boat  are  supported 
to-day ;  the  lower  arms  of 
these  projecting  knees 
being  bolted  to  the  deck 
or  covering-board  of  the 
galley.  The  benches  for 
the  rowers  were  arranged 
obliquely  upon  the  deck, 
as  shown  in  the  half-deck 
plan,  which  gives  those 
upon  the  starboard  side. 

It  is  evident  that,  had 
the  thwarts  of  the  galley 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        117 

not  been  arranged  in  this  manner,  the  men  who  worked 
the  inner  end  of  the  oar  would  have  had  to  leave  their 
seat  each  time  it  was  carried  forward  to  catch  the 
water.  These  long,  heavy  oars  were  never  pulled  far 
through  the  water  after  catching  it,  as  those  of  a 
modern  racing-eight  are  ;  but,  after  a  short,  strong  tug, 
were  at  once  carried  forward  for  another  stroke.  This 
style  of  working  a  long,  heavy  oar  or  sweep  may  be 
seen  by  any  one  who  watches  the  way  a  Thames 
Lighterman,  or  a  pair  of  them,  use  a  long  sweep ;  while 
a  short,  strong  pull  or  tug  is  the  style  of  stroke  of  a 
boat's  crew  in  the  Turkish  Navy  to-day. 

Between  the  benches  for  rowers,  in  the  centre  of 
the  galley,  was  a  passage  known  as  the  "coursier,"  or 
waist,  at  the  fore  end  of  which,  upon  a  platform,  cut 
off  from  it  by  a  sliding  door,  a  twenty-four-pounder 
was  mounted,  with  two  smaller  guns,  about  eight- 
pounders,  on  either  side  of  it,  all  five  pointing  forward, 
as  bow-chasers. 

The  oars  of  a  galley,  which  were  about  44  feet 


Oar  of  galley. 

long,  were  handled  by  means  of  a  cleat,  or 
tenant,"   nailed  to   the  great  loom  of  the  oar.     The 
number  of  men  to  each  oar  varied  from  five  to  six  or 


118  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

seven,  one  or  more  of  the  best  being  always  told  off  to 
the  actual  handle  at  the  end  of  the  oar.  Where  the 
oar  worked  upon  the  rail  against  the  thole-pin,  it  was 
strengthened  and  protected  by  smooth,  flat  pieces  of 
wood  nailed  to  it,  as  well  as  by  a  rope  woolding.  It 
will  be  seen,  by  reference  to  the  cut,  that  this  part  of 
the  oar  ("  la  galaverne  ")  had  also  an  arrangement  to 
keep  it  from  slipping  outwards,  very  like  the  leather 
collar  or  button  upon  a  modern  fresh-water  oar. 

Allowing  six  men  to  each  oar,  we  get  a  total  of 
360  man-power  in  one  of  these  great  galleys.  In  these 
days  of  steam  (and  labour-saving  engines?),  we  always 
speak  of  the  horse-power  of  a  ship.  But  is  not  all 
this  horse-power,  nominal  or  phenomenal,  of  an  Atlantic 
liner,  or  modern  war-ship,  with  her  enormous  crew  of 
begrimed  stokers,  firemen,  and  shovellers,  or  coal- 
trimmers,  sweating  day  and  night  before  her  furnaces, 
or  down  in  her  stifling  bunkers,  really  as  dependent 
upon  actual  man-power  as  the  ancient  galley  was  ? 

And  is  the  life  of  such  men  a  great  improvement  * 
upon  that  of  a  galley-slave,  who,  at  any  rate,  worked 
in  pure  air  and  sunshine  ?  While,  with  a  fair,  or  beam- 
wind,  the  galley's  splendid  sail-wings  must  have  often 

*  During  the  Naval  Manoeuvres,  1889,  the  usual  temperature  in 
the  engine-room  of  H.M.S.  Nymphe  was  112°,  while  in  her  bunkers 
180°  was  recorded  ;  but  this  must  have  been  higher  than  usual,  as 
at  that  temperature  we  are  told  that  "  the  coal  became  ignited  !  " 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        119 

given  her  man-power  long  spells  of  entire  rest.  That 
the  life  of  a  galley-slave  was  not  altogether  as  hard  as 
is  sometimes  imagined,  is  partly  shown  by  the  fact 
that  there  were  always  men  on  board  the  galleys  who 
had  shipped  voluntarily  for  this  work  of  tugging  at  the 
oar,  for  pay  as  well  as  their  keep.  These  men,  as  volun- 
teers, of  course  took  rank  above  the  ordinary  galley- 
slave  ;  who,  in  spite  of  his  being  a  convicted  felon, 
was  not,  I  suspect,  much  worse  off,  or  worse  treated, 
than  many  of  the  pressed  landsmen  in  our  navy  of  that 
date  were. 

But,  to  return  to  the  galley  and  her  fittings,  the 
captain's  cabin  aft  was  always  under  a  kind  of  tilted 
canopy,  like  the  cover  of  a  waggon,  known  as  the 
"  carrosse,"  or  coach,  from  which  we  no  doubt  got  the 
name  of  that  apartment  under  the  poop  of  our  old 
men-of-war  and  East  Indiamen,  called  the  "  coach," 
in  which  originally  there  stood  an  old-fashioned  four- 
post  bed  for  the  captain  or  admiral's  use. 

Immediately  in  front  of  the  captain's  cabin- 
between  it  and  the 'benches  for  the  galley-slaves — was 
a  square  open  space  or  platform  known  as  "  1'espalier  " 
(probably  from  the  French  "  espar"  a  spar,  whence, 
perhaps,  the  term  "  spar-deck,"  or  light  upper-deck — 
used  by  the  crew  in  handling  the  spars  and  sails  of 
a  ship).  This  spar-deck  in  the  galley  was  bounded  on 


120  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

either  side  by  ornamental  balustrades  and  seats,  and 
was  fitted  with  two  gangways  and  short  accommoda- 
tion-ladders. These  eighteenth-century  galleys  were 
much  used  as  vessels  of  state,  or  for  the  conveyance  of 
great  people  bound  upon  short  voyages  in  fine  weather ; 
and  though  usually  they  were  steered  by  a  long  tiller, 
the  end  of  which  extended  as  far  forward  as  the  middle 
of  the  captain's  cabin,  it  was  customary  in  them,  and 
other  pink,  or  "  late  sterned "  vessels  like  them,  to 
place  the  steersman  sometimes  upon  a  bench  abaft 
the  rudder,  called  the  "bancassi,"  from  which,  in  order 
not  to  incommode  those  in  the  carrosse,  he  worked  a 
tiller  projecting  aft  in  the  reverse  way  of  the  ordinary 
one.  This  tiller  ;was  most  likely  handled  with  some 
kind  of  yoke-lines. 

Directly  under  the  coach  or  carrosse  was  a  decked 
cabin,  "  le  gavori,"  lighted  by  windows  in  the  side  of 
the  galley.  Forward,  beyond  the  rowers'  benches, 
raised  some  feet  above  them  and  the  deck,  stood  a 
platform  or  forecastle,  known  as  "la  rambade."  This 
deck  was  useful  as  a  shelter  for  the  five  bow-chase 
guns,  and  to  the  seamen  working  the  foresail,  etc. 
It  was  also  furnished  in  the  sixteenth  century,  as 
shown  by  the  model  in  the  Arsenal  at  Venice,  with  a 
pair  of  very  cleverly  contrived  mitrailleuse,  each  com- 
posed of  twenty  revolving  barrels  worked  by  hand,  and 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


121 


pointing  aft,  so  as  to  rake  the  man-power  of  the  galley 
in  case  any  of  it  showed  signs  of  insubordination. 
The  prow  of  all  the  galleys  ended  in  a  long  beak  or 
"flech"  beyond  the  stem  of  the  vessel,  very  like  the 
"  rostrum "  of  an  antique 
galley.  This  flech  is  a  feature 
in  most  of  the  vessels  and 
boats  belonging  to  South 
Italian  ports,  and  even  to-day 
the  small  fishing-boats  of 
Catania,  in  Sicily,  are  armed 
with  these  long  beaks,  carried 
out  to  a  very  sharp  point,  shod 
with  iron.  The  galley  had  two 
masts — "  arbre  de  mestri,"  the 
mainmast,  and  "arbre  de  trin- 
quet,"  the  foremast,  with,  at 
times,  a  mizzen.  These  masts 
were  short,  with  a  "  calcet," 
or  square  head  or  block,  mor- 
tised to  receive  the  sheaves 
over  which  ran  the  jeers  and  other  ropes  for  hoisting 
the  yards.  The  masts  had  no  stays,  and  the  "  sarti," 
or  shrouds,  of  a  galley  differed  from  those  of  other 
vessels  in  having  the  deadeyes  coupled  to  them  by 
stout  wooden  toggles,  so  that  the  lee-rigging  could  be 


Galley's  shroud,  with  toggle 
connections  between  it  and 
deadeye. 


122  OLD  SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

cast  adrift  to  allow  the  great  yard  free  play  on  either 
tack  in  jihing,  or  when  running  before  the  wind.  The 
masts  could  also  be  lowered  flat  on  deck,  if  required. 

Abaft  the  calcet,  or  head  of  the  mast,  was  the  top. 
The  word  "  antenne,"  the  yards  of  a  modern  galley,  is 
the  same  word  used  for  the  yards  of  the  old  Roman 
galley,  the  sails  and  rig  of  which  no  doubt  differed 
little  from  those  of  these  eighteenth-century  galleys."" 
These  galleys  were  always  superbly  decorated,  and  a 
glance  at  the  stern-view  of  one,  with  its  carving  and 

*  One  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  simple  sail-power  of  these 
eighteenth-century  galleys  should  not  entirely  be  lost  sight  of,  even, 
by  modern  naval  architects,  or  that  some  well-contrived  form  of  the 
lateen-sail  might  prove  of  use  in  many  of  our  smaller  war-ships 
intended  for  other  work  than  that  of  mere  harbour  defence.  We 
have,  in  the  ram-bow,  reverted  to  an  antique  type  of  war-vessel 
which,  like  a  modern  steamer,  was  able  for  attack  or  retreat  without 
the  use  of  sails.  But  one  has  only  to  think  of  one  of  these  great 
galleys,  caught  in  a  short  gale  and  heavy  sea,  to  see  the  wisdom  of 
not  leaving  her  entirely  dependent  upon  her  oars,  or  without  some 
form  of  sail  and  mast,  if  only  to  steady  the  hull  as  it  rolled  in  the 
trough  of  the  sea;  bat  with  help  of  which  she  must  have  often  suc- 
ceeded in  clearing  a  rock-bound  lee  shore,  and  gaining  a  port,  or  the 
shelter  of  the  nearest  island.  When  a  lateen-sail  is  furled,  and  its 
long  yard  secured  low  down,  or  on  deck,  in  a  fore  and  aft  position, 
this  rig,  with  its  short  stumpy  mast  or  masts,  offers  less  resistance 
in  steaming  to  windward  than  any  other ;  while,  when  wanted  upon 
any  emergency,  the  strong  crew  of  a  man-of-war  would  quickly  re-hoist 
the  yard,  and  loose  this  most  effective  sail  to  the  wind.  The  stout 
head  of  a  lateen-mast,  with  its  top,  or  crow's-nest,  abaft  it,  is  also 
admirably  adapted  for  a  look-out,  or  signalling-station,  or  one  in 
which  protection  might  be  given  to  riflemen,  or  a  small  machine-gun. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        123 

gilded  ornamentation  in  low  relief,  shows,  I  think,  the 
real  origin  of  the  lofty  poop,  with  its  overhanging 
stern  and  quarter-galleries,  of  the  larger  ships  and 
galleons  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
Most  of  the  flags  and  banners  of  a  galley  were  of 
crimson  damask  or  silk,  embroidered  in  gold ;  even 
the  covering  of  the  carrosse,  or  captain's  cabin,  and 
the  awning  over  the  little  deck  aft  was  of  the  same 
material. 

They  continued  to  be  used  by  the  Turks,  the  Pope, 
the  Venetian  Bepublic,*  and  the  Maltese  and  Spaniards 
for  some  time  after  they  were  laid  aside  in  the  French 
Navy.  Drawing  little  water,  they  were  able  to  sail 
close  under  the  land,  and,  under  sail,  or  oars  in  a 
calm,  were  effective  for  harassing  or  cutting  out  other 
vessels,  especially  the  pirates  of  the  Barbary  coasts. 
But,  like  the  duration  of  a  calm,  their  superiority  over 
heavier  sea-going  vessels  was  often  of  short  duration. 

*  In  a  letter  to  Sir  Robert  Mansell,  dated  Venice,  1621,  James 
Ho  well  tells  us  how  "  he  was  lately  to  see  the  Arsenal  here,  one  of  the 
worthiest  things  of  Christendom  :  they  say  there  are  as  many  Gallies 
and  Galleasses  of  all  sorts  belonging  to  St.  Mark,  either  in  course,  at 
anchor,  in  dock,  o-r  upon  the  careen,  as  there  be  days  in  the  year ; 
here  they  can  build  a  compleat  Galley  in  half  a  day,  and  put  her 
afloat  in  perfect  equipage,  having  all  the  ingredients  fitted  before- 
hand ;  as  they  did  in  three  hours,  when  Henry  III.  pass'd  this  way 
to  France  from  Poland,  who  wish'd,  that  besides  Paris  and  his 
Parliament  towns,  he  had  this  Arsenal  in  exchange  for  three  of  his 
chiefest  cities."—'"  Familiar  Letters,"  J\  Howell 


124  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WOKDS, 

The  Eussians  and  Swedes,  in  the  Baltic,  also  used 
galleys  of  the  same  build  as  those  of  the  south  ;  other- 
wise they  were  rarely  seen  far  outside  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar.  No  doubt  the  old  galley  was  the  origin 
of  the  frigate  or  frigata,  and  many  years  after  the 
lateen-rigged  galley  was  extinct,  or  rarely  seen  north 
of  Finisterre,  a  class  of  low,  straight,  square-rigged 
ships,  known  as  galleys,  were  built  and  used  in  England, 
both  for  war  and  commerce. 

The  term  "  galley,"  used  for  these  vessels,  probably 
originated  from  a  custom  among  naval  architects 
and  seamen  of  that  time  of  calling  a  ship  "  galley- 
built,"  when  her  upper-deck  and  rail  was  flush  fore 
and  aft,  without  a  waist  or  break  in  the  line  of  her 
deck  amidship  ;  while  a  frigate-built  ship  always  had 
a  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  rising  above  this  waist  or 
middle-deck.  But  whether  galley  or  frigate  built,  all 
this  class  of  small  vessels  were  provided  with  row-ports 
in  addition  to  their  gun-ports,  through  which  long  oars 
or  sweeps  were  constantly  worked  in  calms,  to  escape 
from,  or  come  up  with,  any  enemy. 

And  mention  is  often  made  by  Captain  Woodes 
Eogers,  in  his  cruising-voyage  round  the  world  in  1708 
and  1711,  of  the  use  of  oars  on  board  his  little  frigates, 
the  Duke  and  Duchess;  while  he  speaks  of  starting 
on  his  voyage  in  company  with  five  or  six  of  these 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        125 

galley-built  ships,  most  of  which  hailed  from  Bristol, 
and  were  then  known  as  "  runners,"  or  vessels  which, 
owing  to  their  speed,  and  the  ease  with  which  they 
would  be  rowed  in  a  calm,  were  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  without  waiting  for  naval  convoy,  through 
the  swarms  of  French  privateers  which  at  that  time 
infested  the  "  narrow  seas."  *     Captain  Shelvock  also 
speaks  of  one  of  the  two  ships  with  which  he  started  on 
a  privateering  voyage,  a  few  years  later  than  Eogers,  as 
"  a  Thames-built  galley." 

But  these  Bristol  and  Thames  galleys  were  no  more 
like  the  lateen-rigged  ones  of  the  Mediterranean  than 
was  the  "  Luxemburg  galley,"  which  was  accidentally 
burnt  in  the  Atlantic  in  1727,  and  which  is  shown  by 
a  painting  of  her  at  Greenwich,  to  have  been  a  full- 
rigged  ship,  with  even  a  second  tier  of  guns  upon  a 
flush  spar-deck  above  those  on  her  main-deck. 

I  give  on  next  page  a  figure  of  one  of  these  galley- 
built  sloops-of-war  of  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 

*  Pinkerton,  in  his  account  of  Bristol,  written  in  1808,  says  that 
"  in  the  late  wars  with  France,  they  built  here  a  sort  of  galley 
called  'runners,'  which  being  well  armed  and  furnished  with  letters 
of  marque,  overtook  and  mastered  several  prizes  of  that  nation.  Many 
of  these  ships  were  then  also  carriers  for  London  merchants,  who 
ordered  their  goods  to  be  landed  here,  and  sent  to  Gloucester  by 
water,  thence  by  land  to  Lechlade,  and  thence  down  the  Thames  to 
London ;  the  carriage  being  so  reasonable  that  it  was  more  than 
paid  for  by  the  difference  of  the  insurance  and  risk  between  this 
port  and  London." 


126 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WOKDS, 


century,  showing  the  position  of  her  row-ports  between 

the  gun-ports.  The  armed  xebec 
of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
carried  from  fourteen  to  twenty- 
two  guns  on  one  deck,  with  small 
ports  for  oars  between  each  gun, 
appears  to  have  been  the  con- 
necting-link between  the  galley 
and  the  frigate.  The  English 
are  said  to  be  the  first  who  used 
this  class  of  vessel  equipped  for 
war  as  well  as  commerce  on  the 
ocean.  But  all  the  earlier  frigates 
and  sea-going  galleys,  or  xebecs, 
were  constructed  with  a  view  to 
an  attack  delivered  from  the  fore 
part  or  forecastle  of  the  ship. 
Their  broadside-guns  were  few, 
while  the  after  end  and  lofty 
poop  was  almost  defenceless  :  a 
mode  of  construction  due  to  the 
importance  attached  by  early 
seamen,  not  only  of  obtaining, 
but  of  retaining,  the  weather- 
gauge  of  an  enemy  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so 
in  a  breeze. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


127 


128  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

From  a  circumstantial  account  of  an  action  in  1545 
between  a  French  fleet  of  "  a  hundred  and  fifty  large 
ships,  sixty  of  inferior  size,  and  twenty-five  galleys," 
and  an  English  fleet  under  Lord  Howard,  written 
by  Sieur  Martin  Du  Bellay,  it  is  evident  that  both 
the  English  and  French  had  at  that  date  fast,  handy 
ships  capable  of  working  and  holding  their  own  to  wind- 
ward. In  this  narrative  we  learn  also  that  the  English 
had  then  a  "  light  sort  of  pinnace,  longer  than  ordinary 
in  proportion  to  beam,  being  narrower  than  the  French 
galleys,  but  worked  like  them  both  under  sail  and  oar. 
.  .  .  Which  vessels  were  so  well  handled  by  their 
sailors,  among  the  tideways  round  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
that  in  speed  they  proved  as  fast  or  faster  than  the 
French  galleys,  upon  which  they  bore  down,  and  so 
galled  their  sterns  with  their  artillery  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  French  galleys  seemed  inevitable.  For,  had 
the  galleys  ventured  to  turn,  or  haul  their  wind,  these 
English  vessels  would  have  been  over  them  instantly. 
Nevertheless,  the  Prior  of  Capua,  no  longer  able  to 
bear  this  disgraceful  position,  began  to  haul  her  wind 
in  order  to  attack  one  of  the  enemy's  foremost  vessels, 
which  was  almost  touching  the  stern-post  of  a  galley. 
But  the  English  vessel,  being  shorter,  was  round  before 
her,  and  regained  her  consorts;  after  which  the  English 
discontinued  the  pursuit."  In  this  action  the  English 


.IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 

fleet  was  smaller  than  the  French,  and  was  acting 
defensively,  having  been  attacked  by  the  French  galleys 
at  Spithead  in  the  morning,  under  oars,  before  the  day- 
breeze  sprang  up. 

But  it  is  very  significant  that,  after  this,  the  mere 
fact  of  the  English  ships  being  to  windward  of  them 
was  enough  to  deter  the  French  from  attacking  them ; 
while  a  dread  of  following  the  French  fleet  too  far, 
with  the  chance  of  the  wind  failing  or  changing,  and 
so  enabling  the  French  to  again  use  their  galleys  under 
oars,  caused  the  English  to  give  up  chasing  them. 

It  was  this  plan  of  attack  that  was  adopted  by 
the  commanders  of  our  handy  little  ships  when  they 
followed  in  the  wake,  and  galled  with  the  artillery 
of  their  forecastles  the  lofty  sterns  of  the  Armada 
galleons ;  our  seamen,  once  they  had  the  Spanish 
ships  to  leeward  of  them,  taking  good  care,  both  by 
night  and  day,  to  keep  them  there.  To  ensure  success 
in  this  mode  of  attack,  speed,  weatherly  qualities, 
and  handiness  in  the  ships,  with  seamanship  on  the 
part  of  their  captains  and  crews,  were  essential,  and 
in  each  and  all  of  these  qualities,  together  with  local 
knowledge,  our  men  and  ships  were  superior  to  those 
of  the  Armada.  So  that  when  Drake  waited  quietly 
to  finish  his  game  of  bowls  on  Plymouth  Hoe,  he 
knew  well  enough  that  to  put  to  sea  before  the 


130 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


Spaniards  had  run  past  Plymouth  would  only  be 
putting  them  in  a  position  to  give  or  refuse  an  attack ; 
while,  once  he  had  them  well  under  his  lee  in  the 
narrower  part  of  the  Channel,  they  would  only  be 
able  to  do  so  in  a  cairn  with  their  galleys,  in  which 
case  he  had  no  doubt  some  of  those  narrow,  light 


Xebec  with  sails  "  en  oreilles  de  lievra  "  (hare's  ears,  or  goose-winged). 

pinnaces,  worked  with  oars,  ready  for  them,  just 
as  they  were  for  the  French,  near  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
in  1545. 

It  is  curious  that  the  term  "  galley-way,"  or 
"give  her  good  galley  way,"  is  still  often  used  among 
Southampton  watermen. 


IX  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        131 


CHAPTEK  X. 

FIGUKE-HEADS. 

"Old  Friends" — Figure-heads  ashore,  on  and  off  duty — Heads  of 
"  Fighting  Temeraire  "  and  Victory— The  Temeraire  at  Trafalgar, 
and  towed  to  her  last  berth — Turner's  accuracy  in  certain  details 
in  this  picture — The  anatomy  of  a  sea-going  ship's  beak-head, 
etc. — An  early  type  of  true  stem — The  upright  American  axe- 
bow — The  old  frigate  bow,  some  advantages  and  drawbacks  of 
it — Bowsprit  gammoning — A  naval  figure-head  out  of  place — 
From  the  eye  of  the  Chinese  junk  to  the  highly  developed 
human  eighteenth-century  figure-head,  etc. 

ME.  H.  STACY  MARKS  was  certainly  doing  his  duty  as 
an  historical  painter  when  some  years  back  he  gave 
us,  under  the  title  of  "  Old  Friends,"  his  picture  of 
three  figure-heads  of  ships  that  may  have  fought  at 
Trafalgar  or  the  Nile.  The  scene  is  laid  outside  some 
large  Thames  ship-breaker's  yard,  and  two  Greenwich 
pensioners  are  fighting  their  battles  again,  as  they 
stand  below  and  recognize  the  ghost-like  forms  of 
all  that  remains  of  ships  they  may  have  fought  in 
as  boys.  One  of  these  relicts  is  a  portrait  of  Nelson, 
with  a  gas-lamp  attached  to,  and  projecting  from 


132 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


it.  A  fact,  no  doubt,  noted  for  us  by  the  painter, 
and  very  significant  of  the  value  put  upon  such  marine 
stores  to-day. 

In    many   outlying    sea-coast    hamlets,   one   often 
comes  across  an  old  figure-head,  generally  an  armless 


•%%& 


it  til? 


fdrif® 


"  Old  Friends."    From  a  drawing  by  H.  Stacy  Marks,  R.A. 

trunk,  which  stands  grimly  looking  up  to  the  sky  in 
a  small  coastguard  or  fisherman's  cottage-garden — a 
weather-stained  cenotaph  of  a  ship  and  her  crew, 
carved  for  and  carried  by  them  proudly  over  the 
sea,  years  before  it  was  washed  up  from  the  shattered 
hull  of  some  eighteenth-century  frigate  or  Indiaman ; 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        133 

while  in  such  places  the  more  enduring  oaken  ribs 
of  the  ship  that  bore  the  head,  often  form  the  prin- 
cipal beams  of  cottages,  in  which  men  still  live  with 
whom  rests  the  only  record  of  her  wreck.  Perhaps 
the  largest  collection  of  this  class  of  figure-head  is 
that  in  the  Scilly  Islands  ;  where  numbers  stand  about, 
and,  as  subjects  of  Mr.  Augustus  Smith,  do  their  duty 
in  his  little  kingdom  as  gate-posts,  or  supports  of 
summerhouse,  etc. 

But  owing  to  neglect,  and  still  more  perhaps  to 
the  material,  mostly  English  elm,  used  by  ship-carvers, 
very  old  figure-heads  are  not  common ;  and  many  of  I 
us  know  more  to-day  of  the  look  of  a  Koman  emperor, 
or  Greek  warrior,  than  we  do  of  the  figure-head  of 
such  a  ship  as  the  "  Fighting  Temeraire"  only  broken 
up  in  the  Thames  fifty  years  ago. 

But  as  shown  in  a  fine  old  model  of  the  ship, 
made  for  us  by  the  French  prisoners  at  Portsmouth, 
it  is  said  out  of  their  beef  bones,  this  head — a  full- 
length  figure  of  the  god  of  war — must  have  been  a 
masterpiece  of  the  ship-carver's  art. 

This  vessel,  the  real  "Fighting  Temeraire"  of 
Turner's  great  picture,  must  not  be  confused  with  the 
older  French-built  ship  of  the  same  name,  of  seventy- 
four  guns,  captured  by  Admiral  Boscawen  in  1759, 
and  sold  in  1794.  The  "Fighting  Te'me'raire"  was  a 


134 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


ninety-eight-gun  ship,  built  at  Chatham,  and  launched 
in  1798,  and  was  desperately  engaged  at  Trafalgar, 
where  she  followed  Nelson's  ship,  the  Victory,  into 
action.  It  is  curious  to  find,  from  a  model  at  Green- 
wich, that  the  figure-head  of  Nelson's  favourite  was  a 
facsimile  of  the  head  of  an  older  line-of-battle  ship 


Head  of  "Fighting  Temeraire"  (Turner's),  a  98-gun  ship. 

of  the  same  name,  lost  with  all  hands  in  the  Channel 
in  1744. 

At  Trafalgar  "  the  Temeraire  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Elias  Harvey,  with  Thomas  Kennedy  as  first- 
lieutenant  ;  her  rigging  and  spars  were  almost  entirely 
cut  to  pieces,  the  head  of  her  rudder  was  shot  off, 
and  eight  feet  of  the  starboard  side  of  her  lower-deck, 


IX  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


135 


abreast  the  mainmast,  was  stove  in.  During  the 
action  the  Temeraire  was  fouled  by  the  French  ship 
Fougeux,  and  was  at  once  lashed  to  that  ship ;  then 


Head  of  Victory. 

Kennedy,  with  James  Arscot,  mate,  Eobert  Helgate, 
midshipman,  twenty  men  and  six  marines,  boarded  the 
Fougeux,  and  in  ten  minutes  she  was  taken." 


OF  THE 

TTNIVERSIT 


136  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

I  have  repeated  this  noble  story  because  Mr. 
Thornbury,  in  his  "  Life  of  Turner/'  states  that,  when 
a  title  was  wanted  for  an  engraving  of  the  Temeraire, 
no  history  of  the  ship  could  be  found.  Turner  in- 
sisted that  the  title  ought  to  be  the  "  Fighting 
Temeraire"  (the  title  he  gave  in  the  Academy  Cata- 
logue) ;  but,  owing  to  the  mistake  of  looking  upon  this 
ship  as  the  older  French  seventy-four,  which  was 
broken  up  when  Turner  was  a  child,  long  before  he 
saw  the  ninety-eight-gun  ship  "  towed  to  her  last 
berth  "  in  1838,  this  title  was  not  considered  histori- 
cally correct,  and  with  great  reluctance  Turner  allowed 
the  engraving  to  be  called  the  "  Old  Temeraire"  etc. 
How  little  was  then  known  of  the  history  of  either 
ship  is  shown  by  Mr.  Thornbury  speaking  of  the 
Temeraire  as  having  been  taken  from  the  French  at 
the  Battle  of  the  Nile !  The  fact  being  that  no  ship 
of  that  name,  French  or  English,  was  engaged  in  that 
action.  Nautical  critics  of  his  time  also  fell  foul  of 
Turner  for  representing  his  ship  as  rigged,  or  jury- 
rigged,  when  being  towed  to  her  "last  berth.7'  But 
from  Admiralty  records  it  is  now  ascertained  that, 
though  an  unusual  thing,  this  vessel  was  actually  sold 
to  a  ship-breaker  with  masts,  yards,  and  rigging,  all 
standing,  in  1838,  just  as  Turner  saw  and  painted  her. 
The  truth  is  that  Turner,  who  then  spent  much  of  his 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


137 


time  upon  the  Thames  in  his  own  boat,  and  among 
watermen  in  riverside  resorts,  probably  knew  more  of 
the  history  of  the  ship  he  painted  than  most  of  his 
nautical  critics  or  Mr.  Thornbury. 

To  naval  architects  the  Temeraire  is  also  interesting, 
as  having  been  one  of  the  last  of  our  old  line-of-battle 
ships  built  with  a  "  beak-head,"  that  is,  with  her  upper 


Head  of  eighteenth  and  seventeenth  century  war-galley,  with  half-deck 
plan  of  the  same. 

works  cut  square  across  forward  in  a  line  with  the 
cat-heads,  after  the  fashion  of  the  old  galley  and 
galleon ;  a  form  of  bow  afterwards  abandoned,  as,  from 
experience  in  the  early  part  of  the  French  War,  it  was 
found  to  expose  the  crew  working  the  guns  too  much 
to  an  enemy's  fire.  This  detail  is  also  noted  by 
Turner.  Whether  built  in  this  way  or  not,  in  all  the 


138 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,    AND   WORDS, 


old  wooden  ships,  that  part  of  the  vessel  called  the 
"head"  was  an  independent  structure  built  beyond 
the  true  stem,  which,  as  it  does  now  in  most 
Norwegian,  Italian,  and  Spanish  small  vessels,  rose 
high  above  it. 

In  the  ancient  Roman  and  [Greek  war-galleys 
propelled  by  oars,  and  furnished  with  a  ram  projecting 
below  the  water-line,  the  head  ornament  was  usually 

carved  upon  and  carried 
by  this  inner  or  true 
stem;  but  upon  the  in- 
troduction of  cannon, 
when  war- vessels  began 
to  depend  more  upon 
sails  than  oars,  the 
rani-bow  disappeared, 
and  figure-heads  took 
the  place  they  so  long 
held  on  the  beak  itself,  carried  beyond  the  stem  by 
the  solid  bracket-shaped  timber  or  knee  of  the  head, 
which  supported  all  the  complicated  arrangements 
and  decoration  of  this  part  of  the  old  ships,  like  the 
overhanging  gable  of  an  ancient  timbered  house. 
So  that  the  head  of  one  of  these  seventeenth  or 
eighteenth  century  ships  might  be  entirely  demolished 
without  interfering  in  the  least  with  the  seaworthiness 


Head  of  Greek  war-galley  (old  coin). 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        139 

of  her  hull  abaft  it.     But,  driven  by  steam  and  pro- 


Bow  of  eighteenth-century  line-of-battle  ship  on  the  stocks,  before  the  addition 
of  the  beak-head. 


Decoration  on  stem  of  rain-bowed  ironclad. 

tected    by   armour,   the   modern   war-ship  has    again 
reverted  to  the  ram-form  of  bow ;  and  figure-heads,  or 


140  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

rather   bow  decorations,  have  once  more  found  their 
place  upon  the  actual  stem  of  the  ship's  hull. 

The  word  "  stem,"  according  to  Johnson,  is  derived 
from  the  Icelandic  verb  stcemma,  to  oppose  a  current, 
or  to  go  forward,  notwithstanding  a  stream ;  and  the 
Swedish  word  stammen,  the  prow  of  a  ship,  is  of 
the  same  origin ;  while,  in  some  early  English  books, 
"stem"  is  written  the  "stamine  head."  But  one  of  the 
earliest  recorded  forms  of  boat,  a  model  found,  I  believe, 
in  some  Egyptian  queen's  tomb,  suggests  another 
derivation  for  this  word.  Like  all  early  types,  this 
boat  has  both  ends  alike,  and  these  take  the  actual 
shape  of  a  thick  stem,  which,  as  it  tapers  upwards, 
bears  a  lotus  or  water-lily  leaf;  the  disc  of  the  leaf 
being  the  sole  decoration  of  this  entirely  peaceful 
character  of  boat. 


Early  Egyptian  boat,  with  lotus  stem  at  either  end. 

Many  changes  and  some  improvements  in  modern 
ship-building  are  of  American  origin  ;  and  among  these 
is  the  upright  American  axe-shaped  head  of  our  ocean 
steamers,  which  has  almost  superseded  the  old  frigate- 
bow,  as  it  was  called,  with  its  long  flowing  curve  terrni- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        141 

nating  in  a  gracefully  carved  figure.  The  American 
paddle-wheel  steamships,  Fulton,  Arago,  and  Adriatic, 
were  among  the  first  vessels  built  in  this  way,  and 
proved  very  fine  sea-boats. 

The  Great  Eastern  had  a  bow  of  this  kind ;  but  in 
the  Cunard  liners,  the  frigate-bow  was  retained  for 
many  years  afterwards. 

The  Adriatic,  built  by  Steers,  the  builder  of  the 
yacht  America,  was  not  only  one  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  naval  architecture  of  her  date,  but  one  of  the  most 
comfortable  of  Atlantic  steamships.  She,  however, 
proved  too  large  and  expensive  as  a  passenger-carrying 
vessel,  and  after  being  first  sold  to  an  English  company, 
the  Galway  line,  she  was,  when  that  company  failed, 
converted  into  a  sailing-ship  for  the  Californian  wheat- 
trade. 

The  long  old-fashioned  bowsprit,  with  its  "  gam- 
moning," *  or  rope-lashing,  upon  which  the  safety,  not 

*  Chain,  or  an  iron  strap,  has  long  taken  the  place  of  hemp  as  the 
gammoning  of  a  bowsprit,  but  in  the  days  of  rope-gammonings  the 
whole  affair  was  a  most  important  one,  and  the  boatswain  always  had 
a  well-stretched  nearly  new  rope  ready  for  it,  which  had  been  used  as 
a  "  heel,"  or  "  top  rope,"  in  hoisting  up  a  main  or  foretopmast.  A  fine 
warm  dry  day  was  also  chosen  for  the  work,  and  eleven  turns  of  the 
rope  were  taken  over  the  bowsprit  and  through  a  mortise  in  the  knee 
of  the  head,  each  turn  being  hove  taut  by  capstan-power,  and  further 
tautened  by  cross  or  f  rapping  turns  taken  round  them.  Is  the  word 
"  gammoning  "  derived  from  the  Italian  gambone,  to  encourage,  sup- 
port ?  it  also  signifies  the  stout  stem  of  a  plant. 


142  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

only  of  this  spar,  but  of  the  foremast  and  maintopmast, 
formerly  depended,  led  no  doubt  to  the  knee  of  the 
head  being  retained  among  sailing-ships  for  some  years 
in  its  original  weight  and  strength;  but  as  bows 
increased  in  length  and  sharpness,  the  bowsprit  in 
clipper  ships  became  a  shorter  spar,  and  a  lighter  form 
of  head,  incorporated  with  the  true  stem  of  the  ship, 
became  the  fashion.  All  extra  weight  forward  is  worse 
than  useless  in  a  seaway,  while  every  inch  of  length 
adds  to  the  difficulty  of  handling  a  ship  in  dock  or  in 
a  crowded  river. 

But  whether  the  old  frigate-bow  did  not  act  at 
times,  in  cases  of  collision,  as  a  form  of  buffer,  is  a 
question  not  altogether  without  value.  In  the  case 
of  one  of  the  early  Cunarders  (the  Canada)  it  certainly 
proved  useful  in  this  way,  when  in  a  dense  fog,  after 
crumpling  up  her  bowsprit,  figure-head,  etc.,  forward, 
into  matchwood  against  a  steep  wall  of  ice,  her  top- 
gallant forecastle  being  lifted  up  like  the  leaf  of  a  table, 
her  hull  still  remained  tight  below  water ;  so  that  she 
was  able  to  reach  Halifax,  distant  some  five  hundred 
miles,  in  safety. 

In  collisions  between  sailing-vessels  of  the  old  types, 
it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  ship  to  leave  her  figure- 
head on  board  the  ship  collided  with,  the  captain  of 
which,  particularly  if  close-hauled  on  the  starboard 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


143 


tack,  was  sure  to  take  care  of  it,  as  a  silent  but  reliable 
witness  to  the  identity  of  the  vessel  that  had  fouled 
him.  In  a  seaway,  ,on  the  other  hand,  the  overhang- 
ing stem,  etc.,  once  entangled  in  another  ship's  rigging, 


Figure-head  of  H.M.S.  Warrior. 

was,  after  a  collision,  not  easy  to  get  clear  of,  and  often 
led  to  a  succession  of  downward  chopping  blows  even 
more  fatal,  in  the  days  of  wooden  ships,  to  the  ship 
run  into,  than  the  first  shock.  The  first  of  our  English 


144 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


ironclads,  the  (JVarrior,  had  a  frigate  -  bow  with  a 
magnificent  figure-head,  which  she  contrived  one  day, 
in  manoeuvring  under  sail,  to  deposit  in  the  gun-rooin 
of  the  Eoyal  Oak;  probably  the  first  and  last  figure- 
head likely  to  find  itself  in  such  a  locality.") 

Beyond  being  often  the  earliest  head  in  the  ship 
to  practically  discover  the  position  of  another  vessel, 
figure-heads  should  have  no  more  to  do  with  collisions 


Figure-head,  Jupiter  (French  28-gun  ship). 

at  sea  than  the  big  eye  painted  by  the  Chinaman  on 
the  head  of  his  junk  has  in  keeping  her  clear  of  them. 

Scientific  naturalists,  however,  tell  us  that  all 
forms,  human  or  animal,  begin  in  some  low  .type  of 
eye.  It  is  just  possible,  therefore,  that  this  eye  *  of 

*  I  believe  I  am  wrong,  or  not  up  to  date  about  this  eye,  and  that 
we  are  told  now  to  look  to  some  simple  form  of  sac,  bag,  or  stomach, 
as  the  origin  of  all  things,  figure-heads,  of  course,  included. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        145 

the  junk,  by  a  slow  process  of  evolution,  became  in 
time  the  highly  organized  figure-head  of  our  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  century  ships,  which  for  so 
many  years  held  its  own  above  the  waves,  plunging 
into,  and  rising  from  the  foam,  below  the  great  arch  of 
the  sprit  sail. 


140  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE   XI. 

FIGUKE-HEADS  (continued). 

Strange  head  of  New  Zealand  war-canoe — How  did  it  get  there  ? — 
The  old  rampant  lion-head — "  The  lion's  whelps  " — "  The  sweep 
of  the  lion  " — A  Frenchman's  description  of  and  objection  to — 
A  Yankee  skipper's  objection — An  equestrian  figure-head,  and 
its )  connection  with  the  fate  of  Charles  I. — The  Sovereign  of 
the  Seas — Her  knight-heads,  apostles,  and  cat-heads — Career  and 
fate  of  this  ship — A  later  equestrian  head,  the  Royal  George — 
Why  she  was  lost — Coloured  figure-heads  of  old  war-ships — A 
figure-head  laid  up  in  ordinary — Figure-heads  and  their  re- 
movable limbs  in  action — The  modern  steamer's  geographical 
head — The  respectable  nineteenth-century  merchantman's  head 
— A  very  humble  little  lady-head — A  revival  of  her  in  other 
forms  among  yachts,  etc. — Figure-head  in  repose. 

IT  is  curious  to  note  that  while  the  ships  of  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  remained  almost  figure-headless, 
how  a  more  warlike,  but  almost  isolated,  race  of  men 
in  New  Zealand  decorated  their  canoes  with  a  figure 
as  highly  developed  as  any  of  those  upon  our  own 
sixteenth-century  ships;  to  which,  indeed,  with  its 
wonderfully  executed  carved  open-work  supports,  etc., 
this  grotesque  head  of  a  New  Zealand  war-canoe  bears 
a  striking  resemblance.  If  a  nation  is  to  be  judged  as 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        147 

to  its  civilization  by  the  amount  of  carving  and 
decoration  upon  its  weapons  and  war-ships,  the  New 
Zealanders  ought  to  take  a  high  rank. 

When  these  canoes  were  first  found  and  described 
by  Captain  Cook,  the  people  who  carved  them  could 
have  had  no  idea  of  any  animal  of  the  lion  character, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  account  for  this  strange  form 
upon  their  canoes,  unless  it  may  have  been  suggested 


Head  of  New  Zealand  war-canoe. 

to  them  by  the  derelict  head  of  some  early  sixteenth  - 
century  navigator's  ship  cast  up  on  the  shores  of  their 
islands,  fit  is  certain  that  a  lion  rampant,  sometimes 
crowned,  and  bearing  on  a  shield  the  arms  of  his 
country,  was  the  most  usual  decoration  of  the  prow 
of  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  century  vessels,  especially 
those  of  the  smaller  class./  But  ships  were  then  so 
loaded  from  stem  to  stern  with  carvings  as  to  greatly 


148  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WOEDS, 

diminish  the  importance  of  the  leading  figure  of  the 
head,  which  was  also  at  that  time  more  built  into,  or 
incorporated  with,  the  beak  of  the  head  itself  than  the 
figures  upon  the  heads  of  ships  of  a  later  date  were. 
This  was  no  doubt  a  necessity  in  the  long  projecting 
heads  of  ships  of  the  period  of  the  lion's  first,  second, 
third,  fourth,  and  fifth  whelps,  etc.,  to  enable  them  to 


One  of  the  lion's  whelps. 

better  withstand  a  playful  dive  now  and  then  into  a 
wave.  In  an  old  French  work  on  ship-building,  great 
stress  is  laid  upon,  and  a  whole  page  of  illustration  is 
devoted  to,  the  exact  curve  of  the  head,  or,  as  it  was 
V  then  called,  "  the  sweep  of  the  lion ; "  and  this  particular 
curve  was  retained  as  the  only  right  one  for  figure-heads 
for  years ;  so  that,  no  matter  what  the  celestial  or 
terrestrial  rank  of  one  might  be,  it  was  always  so 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


149 


arranged  as  to  flow  of  drapery,  or  disposition  of  liinb, 
as  to  conform  to  all  the  cat-like  curves  of  this  old  ship- 
carver's  inexorable  "sweep  of  the  lion."  From  some 
remarks  also  of  the  French  writer,  Lescallier,  who  wrote 
upon  this  subject  in  1780,  it  appears  that  about  that 


Lion-head,  eighteenth  century,  French. 

time  it  was  customary  to  give  many  French  men-of-war 
a  lion-head,  with  a  view  of  hiding  their  nationality ; 
for,  after  remarking  "  that  a  ship's  figure-head  should 
represent  some  deity  or  hero  having  a  connection 
with  the  vessel's  name,"  he  says,  "  but  this  rule 


150 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


cannot  be  followed  so  long  as  we  persist  in  trying  to 
make  our  vessels  look  like  those  of  the  English,  by 
giving  them  a  lion-head,  which,"  he  adds,  "is  always 
placed  astraddle,  and  in  a  very  forced  attitude,  painful 
enough  to  look  at  even  in  an  animal ;  but  little  less 
than  ridiculous  when  a  figure  of  Flora,  Pomona,  or 
Atalanta  is  seen  in  such  a  position." 


English  frigate-head,  eighteenth  century. 

I  give,  from  Lescallier,  one  of  these  old  French 
lion-heads,  in  which  drawing  also  the  arrangement  of 
the  gammonings  of  an  old  bowsprit,  described  in  the 
last  chapter,  are  well  seen. 

In  the  above  cut  of  an  English  frigate's  head  is 
shown  the  timber  conforming  to  the  "  sweep  of  the 
lion ; "  to  either  side  of  which  the  carving,  in  alto- 
relievo,  of  the  figure-head  was  attached.  The  position 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        151 

is  also  seen  here  of  the  timber  or  scroll-shaped  bracket 
of  the  head,  always  called  "  the  hair-bracket/'  from 
its  rising  just  abaft  this  timber,  and  meeting  or  support- 
ing the  lion's  mane,  or  the  hair  of  a  figure-head. 

It  was  of  course  a  Yankee  skipper  who,  some  fifty 
years  ago,  first  attempted  to  resist  this  old  "  sweep  of 
the  lion,"  and  being  a  large  owner  in,  as  well  as 
commander  of  his  packet,  actually  had  carved  for  her 
a  full-length  figure  of  our  Queen,  with  drapery  and 
robes  about  her  just  as  they  would  hang  in  a  calm  ; 
giving  as  his  reason  for  this  tremendous  innovation 
that  "he  guessed  she  looked  nicer  so,  and  that  he 
didn't  want  to  see  his  ship  look  as  though  she  always 
had  the  wind  dead  ahead."  But  a  head-wind  was  of 
more  consequence  to  a  seaman  then  than  it  is  to-day, 
when  a  steamer  always  makes  a  head- wind  for  herself 
out  of  a  calm,  or  even  a  moderately  fair  one. 

How  and  why,  during  the  troubled  reign  of 
Charles  I.,  figure-heads,  with  their  numerous  ac- 
cessories or  retainers,  came  at  last  to  have  an 
influence  upon  politics,  will  be  best  understood  by 
a  glance  at  the  head  of  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas, 
built  for  Charles  by  the  celebrated  Phineas  Pet,  and 
launched  in  1637. 

This  was  the  year  after  John  Hampden's  resistance 
to  the  king's  arbitrary  levy  of  ship-money ;  and 


152 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        153 

though  since  then  larger  sums  than  this  really  useful 
old  ship  cost  have  been  squandered  by  Governments 
upon  war-ships  and  big  guns,  very  little  of  it  has  been 
devoted  to  outside  show.  We  are  told  by  Thomas 
Haywood,  the  designer  of  her  decorations,  that  the 
leading  figure  -  head,  or,  rather,  equestrian  statue, 
"  which  sitteth  upon  her  beak-head,  is  the  Boyal 
King  Edgar  on  horseback,  trampling  upon  seven 
kings — alluding  to  the  story  in  the  Saxon  chronicle 
of  his  having  been  acknowledged  supreme  lord  by  the 
other  kings  of  Britain."  So  that  this  monarch  (who 
appears  to  have  been  fond  of  yachting,  but  of  doubtful 
morals),  when  he  made  his  annual  cruise  round 
England,  was  rowed  in  his  barge  on  the  Dee  by  eight 
of  his  subject  kings :  viz.  of  Scotland,  Cumberland, 
Westmorland,  Anglesey  with  the  Isle  of  Man  and  the 
Hebrides,  Galloway,  and  North,  South,  and  Middle 
Wales. 

It  is  curious  to  note  in  this  ship,  that  while  her 
outer  beak  or  prow  bears  an  emblem  of  sheer  might 
as  right,  her  stem,  or,  as  it  is  written,  the  "  stemine 
head"  (the  true  stem  of  the  ship),  bears  upon  it  a 
figure  of  Cupid  astride  of  a  lion  ;  "  emblematical,"  says 
Haywood,  "  of  the  higher  Power  whose  majesty  is 
over  all,  and  rules  all  His  works."  After  being  cut 
down  one  deck,  this  Sovereign  of  the  Seas  proved 


154  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   AY  AYS,   AND  WORDS, 

herself,  for  nearly  sixty  years,  one  of  England's  best 
men-of-war. 

But  after  a  long  and  most  successful  fighting 
career  against  France  and  Holland,  she  was  acci- 
dentally burnt  in  Chatham  Dockyard,  when  laid  up 
there  in  order  to  be  almost  rebuilt.  Naval  architects 
in  those  days  had  evidently  little  doubt  as  to  the  best 
type  of  war-ships.  In  addition  to  the  central  or 
leading  figure  in  all  these  old  ships,  the  upper  ends 
of  the  principal  bow-timbers  which,  rising  above  the 
forecastle  rail,  are  still  known  as  "knight-heads," 
were  carved  into  the  actual  form  of  helmed  knights. 
The  old  French  sea-term,  "apotres"  (or  apostles),  for 
these  timber  heads,  seems  to  show  that  originally  the 
number  of  these  carved  bollards  must  have  been 
twelve. 

The  term  "cat-heads,"  used  for  the  two  stout 
projecting  timbers  on  either  bow,  from  which  the 
anchor  hung  clear  of  the  ship  before  it  was  let  go, 
was  no  doubt  connected  with  the  face  of  a  lion,  or 
large  cat,  usually  carved  upon  the  square  ends  of 
them. 

This  head  of  the  Royal  George  gives  the  position 
of  some  of  these  knight-heads,  or  apostles,  as  well  as 
the  lion's  face  upon  the  cat-head.  Like  the  Sovereign 
of  the  Seas,  this  ship  was  one  of  the  finest  line-of- 


IN  THE   DATS   OF   OAK   AND   HEMP. 


155 


§ 


156  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

battle  ships  of  her  time,  and  a  comparison  of  her  beak- 
head  with  that  of  the  older  ship,  gives  a  good  idea  of 
the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  this  part  of  a  ship 
after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.     The 
Hoyal  George  was  launched  at  Woolwich  in  1756,  and, 
as  we  all  know,  was  capsized  and  sunk  at  her  anchor- 
age, Spithead,  while  heeled  over  to  repair  an  old  worn- 
out    sea- water   tap   in  her   bottom.      Enough   of  her 
recovered  timber  and  copper  has,  I  believe,  since  then 
been  sold  at  Portsmouth,  in  the  shape  of  relicts,  to 
have  built  two  such  ships.     In  speaking  of  the  fate 
of  this  fine  old  ship,  it  is  always  said  that  it  was  due  to 
a  sudden  squall.     But  from  a  circumstantial  narrative 
of  the  disaster  by  a  survivor,  published  in  1834,  in  that 
mine  of  information,  the  good  old  Penny  Magazine,  it 
seems  that  her  loss  was  really  owing  to  the  obstinacy, 
or   worse,   of    a    lieutenant   of    the   watch.      In   this 
account  we  are  told  how,  with  the  ship  inclined  at  an 
angle   of    between    twenty    and    thirty    degrees,   her 
topgallant  masts  on  end,   and  the  ship  in  charge  of 
a   second  or  third   lieutenant,  Admiral  Kempemfeldt, 
of    the    blue,   then  over   seventy,   was   being   shaved 
in  his  cabin  by  the  ship's  barber,  while  most  of  the 
hands   below  were  busy  stowing  rum-casks — hoisting 
them  in  from  a  lighter  lashed  to  that  side  of  the  ship 
into  which  the  short  Spithead  sea  was  already  washing 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        157 

through  the  lower-deck  ports ;  these  ports  having 
to  be  all  open  to  allow  the  great  guns  to  be  run  out 
on  that  side  to  help  give  the  ship  the  required  heel. 
Yet,  so  far,  no  anxiety  about  the  stability  of  the  ship 
seems  to  have  been  felt  by  any  one ;  and,  sailor  like, 
the  men  on  this  lower  deck  "were  enjoying,"  says 
the  writer,  "a  rare  game  hunting  mice  that  had  been 
driven  up  from  below  by  the  water  in  the  ship's 
bilge !  " 

The  carpenter,  who  was  superintending  the  work 
outside  the  ship's  bottom,  appears  to  have  been  the 
first  person  to  think  it  time  to  make  some  change  in 
the  ship's  position,  and  mounted  to  the  quarter-deck 
to  ask  the  lieutenant  in  charge  to  give  the  order  "  to 
right  ship."  The  lieutenant,  however,  gave  him  a 
very  short  answer,  and  the  carpenter  left  the  quarter- 
deck, but  soon  afterwards  returned  and  repeated  his 
request  and  warning.  This  time  the  reply  was,  "  D — e, 
sir,  if  you  can  manage  the  ship  better  than  I  can, 
you'd  better  take  command."  However,  shortly  after- 
wards the  lieutenant  ordered  the  drummer  to  be  called 
to  beat  "  to  right  ship."  It  was  too  late,  for  the  writer 
says  "  there  was  no  time  for  him  to  beat  his  drum,  and 
I  don't  know  that  he  even  had  time  to  get  it." 

In  the  peaceful  years  that  followed  the   times  of 
Howe,  Vincent,  and  Nelson,  the  ship-carver's  art  gradu- 


158 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 


ally  became  less  florid  in  character,  and  the  bright 
colouring  which  was  a  strong  feature  in  all  eighteenth- 
century  figure-heads,  slowly  went  out  of  fashion,  par- 
ticularly among  the  more  aristocratic  classes  of  them 
in  the  navy  and  larger  merchant-ships.  But  in  Luther- 
burg's  picture,  at  Greenwich  Hospital,  of  the  action  of 


Trafalgar,  190  guns.     Lord  Nelson  housed. 

the  1st  of  June,  1794,  the  figure-heads  of  the  two 
leading  vessels,  the  Queen  Charlotte  and  Le  Montague, 
are  as  brightly  coloured  as  the  figures  of  saints,  etc., 
are  in  Eoman  Catholic  churches. 

Many  of  these  old  coloured  figures  are  still  pre- 
served in  a  room  at  Devonport,  removed,  no  doubt, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        159 

from  some  of  the  venerable  hulks  which  lie  near  them, 
moored  in  Hamoaze.  Perhaps  it  was  found  more  eco- 
nomica^  as  well  as  better  for  these  figure-heads,  to 
house  them  thus  together  under  one  roof,  than  to  give 
them  that  individual  outdoor  protection  which,  for 
some  years  after  the  war-time,  it  was  customary  to 
build  over  them,  like  this  figure  of  Lord  Nelson  upon 
the  Trafalgar,  190-gun  ship,  laid  up  at  Chatham  in 
1824. 

In  order  to  economize  timber  in  construction,  and 
that  they  might  be  less  in  the  way  of  the  fire  of  the 
bow-guns,  all  the  arms,  wings,  or  other  lateral  pro- 
jections of  figure-heads  of  gods,  saints,  heroes,  etc., 
when  engaged  in  active  service,  were  ingeniously  con- 
trived to  unship. 

A  glance  at  the  confusion  that  raged  about  the 
heads  of  these  old  ships  at  such  times — shown  in  the 
central  portion  of  a  sea-fight  by  Lutherburg — explains 
how  convenient  this  crab -like  facility  of  parting  with 
and  replacing  limbs  must  have  been. 

As  commerce  extended,  and  our  ocean  lines  of 
steamers  began  to  run  east,  west,  and  south,  the  figure- 
head of  the  nineteenth  century  rapidly  grew  less  war- 
like, and  became  distinctly  geographical  in  character : 
the  heads  of  the  large  steam-companies'  ships  often 
taking  the  embodied  shape  of  a  river,  nation,  or  even 


160 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


of  one  of  the  quarters  of  the  globe.  But  on  private 
merchantmen,  especially  among  sailing-ships,  so  long 
as  a  frigate-bow  was  retained  to  carry  him,  it  was  usual 
to  meet,  in  walking  round  the  London  Docks  a  few 
years  back,  the  highly  respectable  and  well-dressed 


Figure-heads  in  action. 

portrait  and  complacent  smile  of  some  hard-featured, 
well-to-do  merchant  or  ship-owner,  or  perhaps  even  of 
his  wife,  as  the  figure-head  and  true  ruler  of  the  nine- 
teenth-century waves. 

But   even  these  prosperous  ladies   and  gentlemen 
have,  most  of  them,  now  become  marine  stores ;  and 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


161 


the  only  figure  of  their  class  which  survives  is  the  less 
aristocratic,  stout  little  North-country  lady,  which,  in 
a  short-waisted,  bright  red-and-blue  bodice,  still  now 
and  then  peers  out  before  the  gammoning  of  a  bluff- 
bowed  old  collier's  bowsprit. 

It   may  be   noticed   that   the   arms   of  the   little 


A  nineteenth-century  ruler  of  the  waves. 

guardian  angel  of  this  old  brig  (see  p.  162)  are  absent, 
or,  as  sailors  say,  are  unshipped ;  in  fact,  owing  to  the 
shortness  of  the  brig's  voyages,  and  length  of  time 
spent  in  crowded  ports,  loading  or  unloading  coals, 
these  precious  limbs  are  mostly  kept  carefully  stowed 
away  in  the  skipper's  cabin,  along  with  his  best  hat 
and  shore-going  togs. 

M 


162 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


Before  closing  this  chapter  I  must  not  omit  to  say 
that  of  late  years  there  has  been  quite  a  revival  of 
the  ship-carver's  art — which  may  be  seen  and  studied 
by  all  who  go  down  to  the  sea  at  Cowes  or  Ryde — in 
the  shape  of  figure-heads  of  delicately  and  artistically 


Figure-head  of  collier  brig. 

carved  water-sprites  and  sea-nymphs ;  which,  securely 
perched  upon  the  stems  of  our  modern  big  steam  and 
schooner  yachts,  rthere  idle  away  most  of  their  time  ; 
too  often,  I  regret  to  add,  with  that  most  unseamanlike 
sight  below  them,  of  two  round  turns  in  the  hawse  of 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


163 


the  ship  they  decorate ;  which  may  partly  account  for 
the  fact  that  none  of  these  modern  sea-nymphs  look 
as  much  at  home,  or  at  their  ease  as  figure  heads,  as 
this  jolly  young  waterman  of  old  did,  when,  seated  on 
the  bow  of  his  skiff,  he  watched  upon  a  common  hard 
for  a  fare  to  or  from  an  outward-bound  man-of-war. 


Figuie-liead  in  repose  (To:n 


1G4  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 


CHAPTEK   XII. 

OLD    SEA-LIGHTS. 

The  sea-chandelier — Great  size  of  early  poop-lanterns,  and  reason 
for  it — Importance  of  the  ship-chandler  and  art  of  candle- 
making  to  old  seamen — Night-signal  at  Battle  of  the  Nile — 
Rodney's  night-action  off  St.  Vincent,  and  naval  manoeuvres  in 
1781 — Code  of  old  naval  night -signals  —  How  St.  George's 
Channel  was  lighted  a  hundred  and  forty  years  back — Between- 
decks  and  below  in  the  cock-pit  during  a  night-action,  etc. 

IN  a  "true  description  of  His  Majestie's  Royal  ship, 
Sovereigns  of  the  Seas  "  (date  1637),  we  are  told  "that 
she  bore  five  lanthorns,  the  biggest  of  which  would 
hold  ten  persons  to  stand  upright  without  shouldering 
or  pressing  one  the  other."  From  the  great  height 
and  narrow  form  of  the  poop  of  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth century  ships,  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
three  lanterns  there  upon  iron  crutches,  or,  as  they 
were  always  called  by  the  French,  "  chandeliers,"  seen 
in  the  sketch,  it  is  evident  that  when  the  large  central 
light  was  hidden  by  the  ship's  masts,  etc.,  the  other 
two  would  be  visible  upon  a  ship  bearing  down,  or 
exactly  end  on  to  another  vessel,  and  would  therefore 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


165 


be  a  danger-signal  to  that  vessel;  while  the  shutting 
in  of  one  of  them  would  indicate  to  her,  either  that 
she  had  passed  the  line  of  the  approaching  ship's 


course,  or  that  the  ship  had  turned  to  starboard  or 
port,  according  to  which  of  the  lights  had  first  become 
invisible. 


166  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Again,  with  the  three  lights  in  one,  or  nearly  so — 
the  larger  one  being   always  above  the  other  two — a 
ship  would   be  known   to  be  nearly  broadside  to  the 
spectator.     We  still  use  the  light  of  a  candle  as  the 
standard  measure  of  illuminating  power  (even  of  the 
electric  light),  and  that  these  three  chief  lights  of  the 
old  ships  were  of  considerable  power  is  shown,  I  think, 
by  the  enormous  dimensions  of  all  the  earlier  poop- 
lanterns,  which   allowed  candles,  not  only  of  a  large 
size,  but  in  considerable  numbers,  to  be  used  in  them. 
With   smaller  lanterns  this  would  have  been  impos- 
sible, as,  owing   to   the   heat   generated,   the  candles 
would  have  rapidly  melted  down  instead  of  burning. 
No  doubt,  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  Spitzbergen 
whale-fishery,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  sperm 
oil  may  have  slowly  superseded  the  candle  in  these 
fixed    or    "  constant    lights,"    as    the    poop    and    top 
lanterns    were    called  ;     for    the    later    poop-lanterns 
of  the  eighteenth  century  were  much  smaller.     Still, 
owing  to  the  lively  motions  at  sea  of  our  small  old- 
fashioned  ships,  and  the  difficulty  of  keeping  oil  in  its 
place  in  a  sea-lamp,  sailors,  and  especially  fishermen, 
have  always  had   a  strong   bias   toward   the  use  of  a 
candle-lantern. 

Though   thought    little   of   to-day   (in    Protestant 
England),  candle-making  was  once  a  most  important 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


167 


art — older,  of  course,  than  Candlemas  Day  itself ;  and 
no  doubt,  in   the  bigger  ship's  lanterns,   the  candles 


Night-signal  lanterns,  Battle  of  the  Nile. 

burnt  were  of  a  very  superior  make  compared  to  the 
purser's  dip,  by  light  of  which  petty  officers  and  men 
of  eighteenth-century  ships  had  to  grope  about  their 


168  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

work  below.  The  term  "  ship-chandler,"  still  in  use, 
also  points  to  the  importance  formerly  attached  to 
this  industry  and  class  of  marine  stores. 

In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  way  in  which  the 
ordinary  signal-lanterns  were  used,  I  illustrate  on 
p.  167  a  night-signal  as  shown  at  the  Battle  of  the 
Nile,  from  Lutherburg,  in  whose  picture  the  same 
signal  is  seen  repeated  in  a  more  distant  vessel  lying 
in  the  glare  of  light  caused  by  the  blowing  up  of  the 
French  ship  L' Orient. 

The  Nile  was  a  night- action,  but  it  was  fought  in 
comparatively  smooth  water  and  moderate  weather. 
This  was  not  the  case  in  another  very  memorable  night- 
action  fought  eighteen  years  earlier  by  Sir  George 
Kodney,  when,  on  his  way  to  relieve  Gibraltar,  he  fell 
in  with  a  Spanish  squadron,  under  Don  J.  de  Langara, 
on  the  night  of  the  16th  of  January,  1780,  when,  "  out 
of  eleven  ships  of  the  line,  five  were  taken  and  two 
destroyed ;  but  the  action  being  at  night,  and  the 
weather  tempestuous,  the  rest  escaped."  This  short 
but  suggestive  paragraph  occurs  in  the  Naval  Chronicle 
of  November,  1801,  in  an  account  of  the  services  of 
"  the  late  Captain  Edward  Thompson,  of  the  Tlycena^ 
repeating  frigate  in  that  action,  which,"  adds  the  old 
Chronicle ,  "  was  fought,  it  may  be  remembered,  under 
circumstances  of  peculiar  difficulty:  a  gale  of  wind,  a 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        169 

dark  night,  upon  a  lee  shore,  and  on  the  enemy's 
coast." 

The  distinction  between  what  seamen  then  termed 
"  landmen  "  and  sailors,  was  far  more  sharply  defined 
in  those  days  than  it  is  now,  and  few  people  ashore, 
unless  they  had  actually  served  on  board  a  man-of-war, 
knew  what  kind  of  work  handling  ships  and  fighting 
an  enemy  off  Cape  St.  Vincent  meant  on  such  a  night. 
To-day,  however,  there  are  plenty  of  "  landmen  "  who, 
having  spent  a  few  hours  in  "the  Bay,"  on  board  some 
modern  5000-ton  steamship  in  heavy  weather,  may  be 
able  to  realize  to  some  extent  the  conditions  under 
which  such  work  had  to  be  carried  out  on  a  January 
night  by  a  fleet  of  line-of-battle  ships,  though  in  doing 
so  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  with  the  fleet  of  old 
liners  it  was  not  the  case  of  a  single  vessel  making 
the  best  of  the  gale,  and  taking  care  of  herself  under 
steam,  but  of  twenty  great  ships  bound  to  keep  in 
station  for  fighting  purposes,  etc.,  under  sail-power 
only,  and  all  regulated  by  night-signals,  carried  from 
one  division  of  the  fleet  to  another  by  the  "  repeating 
frigate  "  or  frigates  of  the  squadron'. 

The  dazzling  electric  search-light  and  flashing 
signals  were  then  (perhaps  fortunately)  unknown,  and 
beyond  an  occasional  blue  light  or  "  false  fire,"  or  a 
gun  or  two  fired  when  not'  in  action,  all  night-signals 


170  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

were  given  by  candle-light  in  horn  lanterns,  shown  in 
various  parts  of  the  ship's  rigging,  at  times  combined 
with  a  flag  or  two — a  form  of  light  which,  at  any  rate, 
left  the  old  seamen's  eyes  clear  and  steady  to  make 
out  the  all-important  movements  of  hull  and  sail  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  often  in  very  close  order. 
The  following  code  of  night-signals,  forming  an  article  in 
the  "  New  Eoyal  Cyclopedia,  or  Modern  Dictionary  of 
Arts  and  Sciences/'  1788,  will  give  a  fair  notion  of  how 
our  fleets  were  handled  at  night  by  men  like  Eodney. 

When  an  admiral  would  have  the  fleet  unmoor,  and  ride  short, 
he  hangs  oat  three  lights,  one  over  another,  in  the  maintopmast- 
shrouds,  above  the  constant  light  in  the  maintop,  and  fires  two  guns, 
which  are  answered  by  flagships,  each  private  ship  hanging  out  a 
light  in  her  mizzen-shrouds.  All  guns  for  night-signals  to  be  fired 
on  the  same  side,  to  avoid  confusion  of  sound.  When  he  would  have 
them  weigh  anchor,  he  hangs  one  light  in  the  maintop  mast-shrouds, 
and  fires  a  gun,  which  is  answered  by  flagships  and  private  ships  as 
before.  The  signal  to  tack  is  two  flags  on  the  ensign-staff  of  the 
admiral,  over  the  constant  light  on  his  poop,  and  a  gun,  which  is 
answered  by  all  flagships ;  each  private  ship  hanging  out  an  extra 
light  not  to  be  taken  in  till  the  admiral  takes  his  in.  After  this 
signal  is  made,  the  leewardmost  and  sternmost  ships  must  tack  as 
fast  as  they  can;  and  when  about,  the  sternmost  flagship  leads  the 
fleet,  the  rest  to  follow  her  to  avoid  fouling  of  one  another  in  the 
dark.  When  sailing  close  hauled,  if  the  fleet  is  required  to  veer,  and 
bring  to  on  the  other  tack,  the  admiral  hoists  one  light  on  his  mizzen- 
peak,  and  fires  three  guns,  which  is  answered  by  flagships,  each 
private  ship  answering  with  a  light  at  her  mizzen-peak.  In  blow- 
ing weather,  when  the  admiral  wishes  the  fleet  to  lie  a-try,  short,  or 
a-hull,  or  with  head-sails  braced  to  the  masts,  he  forms  lights  of  equal 
height,  and  fires  five  guns,  which  are  answered  by  flagships,  each 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        171 

private  ship  showing  four  lights ;  and  when  he  wishes  them  to  make 
sail  again,  he  fires  ten  guns,  which  are  answered  by  all  flags,  the 
weathermost  ships  making  sail  first.     When  a  fleet  is  sailing  large, 
or  before  the  wind,  and  the  admiral  desires  them  to  bring  to  with 
starboard  tacks  aboard,  he  shows  four  lights  in  his  fore-shrouds,  and 
tires  six  guns,  which  are  answered  by  flagships,  private  ships  showing 
four  lights ;  the  windermost  ships  bringing  to  first.     Whenever  the 
admiral  alters  his  course,  he  fires  one  gun,  without  altering  his  lights, 
which  is  answered  by  all  flagships.     Should  any  ship  require  to  lie 
by,  after  the  fleet  has  made  sail,  she  must  fire  one  gun,  and  show  three 
lights  in  the  mizzen-shrouds.     When  a  ship  discovers  land  or  danger, 
she  is  to  show  as  many  lights  as  possible,  fire  one  gun  and  tack,  or 
bear  away  from  it.     If   a  ship  spring  a  leak,   or  is  disabled  from 
keeping  company,  she  hangs  out  two  lights  of  equal  height,  and  fires 
guns  till  relieved  by  one  of  the  fleet.     A  ship  sighting  a  fleet  is  to 
fire  guns,  make  false  fires  (blue  lights),  put  one  light  on  his  maintop, 
three  on  the  poop,  and  steer  after  them,  unless  called  off  by  the 
admiral  steering  another  course  and   firing  two  or  three  guns,  when 
he  must  follow  the  admiral.     When  the  fleet  is  to  moor,  the  admiral 
puts  a  light  on  each  topmast-head,  and  fires  a  gun,  which  is  answered 
by  flagships,  all  private   ships  hoisting  one  light.     If  the  admiral 
wishes  the  fleet  to  lower  yards  and  topmasts  he  hoists  one  light  on 
his  ensign-staff,  and  fires  a  gun.     The  signal  to  hoist  them  again  is 
two  lights,  one  over   the    other,  in    the    admiral's    mizzen  topmast- 
shrouds,  with  one  gun,  which  is  answered  by  flagships,  private  ships 
showing  one  light  in  their  mizzen-shrouds.     Should  a  strange  ship 
be  seen  coming  into  the  fleet,  the  nearest  ship  must  try  and  speak 
her,  and  not  suffer  her  to  pass  through  the  fleet ;   but  if  it  blows  so 
hard  that  he  is  unable  to  give  the  admiral  timely  warning,  he  must 
hang  out  a  number  of  lights,  and  continue  firing  gun  after  gun  till 
he  is  answered  by  the  admiral.     When  an  admiral  would  have  the 
fleet  to  cut  (cables)  or  slip,  he  hangs  out  four  lights,  one  at  each 
main  and  fore  yardarm,  and  fires  two  guns. 

That  these  eighteenth-century  night-signals  among 
ships  at  sea  were  in  advance  of  the  means  then  in  use 


172  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

to  guide  seamen  after  dark  as  they  drew  near  home 


vv       ^  *-«••" 

ports,  is  clear  from  a  glance  at  an  old  pharos,  or  light- 

..  ,  i  1  irvvto   i  V>*  \- *•  \  'V\v  •/  mi 


ml 


house,  ll  with  an  explanation  for  the  use  of  landmen,: 
from  a  book  of  "  Plans  of  the  harbours,  bays,  and  road- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        173 

steads  of  St.  George's  Channel,  lately  surveyed  under 
the  direction  of  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  and  pub- 
lished with  their  permission  by  Lewis  Morris  in  1748." 

The  huge  grate  for  a  beacon-fire  at  once  also 
suggests  how  easily  master-mariners  might  then  be 
misled  by  forged  or  false  beacon-fires  of  the  same  kind, 
kept  well  stirred  for  them  by  the  natives  of  some  parts 
of  those  wild  shores  without  either  permission  of  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty  or  Elder  Brethren  of  the  Trinity 
House.  Truly,  Jack  then  had  to  keep  a  bright  look-out 
for  himself,  and  feel  or  grope  his  way  by  night  with 
the  soundings  of  the  narrow  seas  at  his  finger-ends,  so 
to  say. 

But  if  our  ancient  mariners  had  little  in  the  shape 
of  artificial  light  to  dazzle  or  help  them  on  deck,  they 
were  certainly  not  better  off  below  upon  the  orlop,  in 
the  powder-rooms,  cable-tier,  or  cock-pit,  where,  even 
by  day,  the  glimmer  of  the  purser's  dip  was  the  only 
working  light. 

Imagine,  then,  the  beat  of  drum  to  quarters,  and 
what  a  scene  it  must  have  produced  on  the  night  in 
which  Eodney  engaged  that  Spanish  fleet.  The  men 
from  below  all  hurriedly  tumbling  up  one  after  another, 
with  hammocks  hastily  rolled  together  for  stowing; 
the  magazines  dimly  lighted  through  iron-barred 
sliding  scuttles  from  certain  adjoining  dens,  known  as 


174  OLD  SEA  WIKGS,  WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

" light-rooms,"  by  light  borrowed  from  which,  cartridges 
are  being  filled  and  handed  up  by  powder-monkeys  to 
the  fighting-decks  above;  along  which  are  ranged  at 
intervals  "match-tubs,"  with  scores  in  their  brims  to 
receive  the  slow  matches  used  in  firing  the  guns,  the 
lighted  ends  as  they  hang  in  these  scores  all  reflected 
in  the  water  washing  to  and  fro  in  the  bottom  of  the 
match-tubs.  Then  by  lantern-light,  hung  from  beams 

mini   ii    n     v> 

C=~  .&(  /      L 


Light-rooms  and  magazine. 

barely  five  feet  six  inches  from  the  deck,  the  men  are 
loading  the  great  guns ;  and  as  the  order  from  those 
on  deck,  watching  the  ship's  roll,  comes  to  fire,  broad- 
side after  broadside  is  poured  in  upon  the  Spaniards' 
passing  ships.  All  this,  too,  on  a  lee  shore,  an  enemy's 
coast,  in  a  gale  of  wind,  and  dark  night ;  and  the  whole 
pack  of  twenty  ships  of  the  line  kept  in  hand  by  the 
will  of  one  man — Eodney  (he  went  to  sea  from  Harrow 


IN  THE   DAYS  OF   OAK   AND   HEMP.  175 

School  at  twelve).  It  was  a  hard  life  ;  but  what  a 
splendid  scene  of  fire-lighted  wave,  and  smoke  driven 
by  the  gale,  must  he  have  overlooked  from  his  lofty 
poop,  as  each  of  his  great  ships  opened  her  fire  upon 
the  enemy  that  stormy  night. 

Then,  while  all  this  is  passing  above,  or  on  the 
fighting-decks,  the  surgeons,  their  mates,  and  loblolly 
boys,  away  below  almost  the  roar  of  the  battle,  are 
at  work  in  the  cock-pit  manufacturing,  by  unsteady 
lantern-light,  as  best  they  can,  in  an  air  heavy  with 
fumes  of  sulphur  and  rolling  bilge  water,  those  one- 
legged  and  one-armed  pensioners,  many  of  whom  were 
still  with  us  at  Greenwich  less  than  forty  years  ago. 


176  OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEK   XIII. 

THE  OLD  SHIP -FARM. 

A  luxurious  voyage  about  the  Cape  in  1682— A  New  York  packet-' 
ship's  long-boat  forty  years  ago — The  old  sea-cow — Stock  not 
always  ho  me- fed  at  sea — Great  value  of  the  pig  as  sea- farm  stock, 
and  superiority  of  ship-fed  pork — The  goat  and  his  appetite 
on  board  ship — Naval  model  sea- farm — Poultry  bred  at  sea — A 
crowing  hen — Root  crops  in  the  lower  hold,  and  other  crops  in 
the  jolly-boat. 

IN  a  letter  written  on  shipboard  by  John  Fryer  (M.D., 
Cambridge),  on  his  arrival  from  India,  he  says,  "  That 
though  a  tedious  voyage  of  seven  months,  it  passed 
away  merrily,  with  good  wine,  and  no  bad  rnusick  :  but 
the  life  of  all  good  company,  and  an  honest  com- 
mander, who  fed  us  with  fresh  provisions  of  turkies, 
geese,  ducks,  hens,  sucking  pigs,  sheep,  goats,  etc.  .  .  . 
and,  to  crown  all,  the  day  we  made  England,  kill'd  us  a 
fatted  calf :  so  that  you  may  spare  that  welcome  when 
you  receive  yours,  etc." 

This  was  written  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago 
— a  time  we  are  accustomed  to  regard  life  at  sea  as 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        177 

something  too  tedious  and  terrible  to  be  endured  by 
ordinary  mortals. 

Bat  this  John  Fryer  was  a  cultivated  gentleman 
and  scholar,  and  his  honest  testimony  to  the  comforts 
and  pleasures  of  a  voyage  round  the  Cape  in  the  year 
1682  is  invaluable.  Of  late,  steam,  the  ice-house, 
canned-meats,  and  the  refrigerating-charnber  have 
changed  the  character  and  limited  the  extent  of  stock- 
farming  on  shipboard,  which  even  fifty  years  back,  in 
the  hands  of  the  ship's  batcher  and  his  mate,  "  Jemmy 
Ducks,"  formed  an  important  part  of  the  economy  of 
our  old  East  Indiamen,  or  men-of-war  engaged  in  a 
long  blockading  cruise.  In  those  happy  Board-of- 
Tradeless  days,  the  heavy  long-boat  of  even  a  fast 
"  line-of-packet  ship,"  bound  only  for  a  short  trip  of 
five  or  six  weeks  between  London  and  New  York, 
looked  more  like  a  working  model  of  Noah's  Ark  than 
anything  likely  to  save  life  at  sea,  or  even  to  live  upon 
it.  Always  securely  stowed  amidships,  well  lashed 
down  and  housed  over,  the  boat,  as  she  lay  upon  the 
ship's  deck,  was  full  of  live  provender ;  being  divided 
as  to  her  lower  hold  into  pens  for  sheep  and  pigs;  while 
upon  the  first  floor,  or  main-deck,  quacked  ducks  and 
geese,  and  above  them  (literally  in  the  cock-loft)  were 
coops  for  another  kind  of  poultry. 

This  great  central  depot  was  closely  surrounded  by 

» 


178  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        179 

other  small  farm-buildings,  the  most  important  being 
the  cow-house,  where,  after  a  short  run  ashore  on  the 
marshes  at  the  end  of  each  voyage,  a  well-seasoned 
animal  of  the  snug-made  Alderney  breed,  chewed  the 
cud  in  sweet  content. 

In  fact,  when  in  old  days  a  passenger- ship  began 
her  voyage,  the  hull  of  her  clumsy  long-boat  was  nearly 
hidden  by  the  number  of  temporary  sheds  and  pens 
required  to  house  the  live  stock  for  the  supply  of  her 
cabin-table ;  and  with  its  many  farmyard  and  home- 
like sounds,  a  ship  was  even  then  more  like  a  small  bit 
of  the  world  afloat  than  it  is  now.  Various  forms  of 
life  appeared  and  passed  away  during  the  voyage — 
expended,  so  to  say,  like  the  marline  spun  on  board — 
in  the  narrow  world  it  began  in. 

In  smaller  vessels,  carrying  no  passengers,  the  skip- 
per's live  stock  was  not  always  home-fed—pigs  and 
goats  being  often  turned  loose  to  cater  for  themselves 
among  the  odds  and  ends  in  the  waist,  or  deck,  between 
the  poop  and  forecastle.  Some  of  the  poultry,  too, 
soon  became  tame  enough  to  be  allowed  the  run  of  this 
part  of  a  ship  ;  the  ducks  and  geese  finding  a  par- 
ticular delight  in  paddling  in  the  wash  about  the  lee- 
scuppers. 

It  does  not,  however,  always  answer  to  turn  down 
sheep  to  feed  with  pigs  at  sea,  for  the  last-named 


180  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

animals  are  apt  to  develop  a  taste  for  live  leg  of 
mutton  after  a  few  weeks  afloat. 

pjgs — or  as  the  old  seamen  usually  called  them, 
"hogs" — have  always  proved  a  thriving  stock  on  a 
ship-farm,  and  the  one  that  pays  hest.  Some  old  sea- 
captains  assert,  indeed,  that,  like  Madeira,  pig  is 
improved  greatly  by  a  voyage  to  India  and  back,  round 
the  Cape  ;  and  that  none  but  those  who  have  tasted 
boiled  leg  of  pork  on  board  a  homeward-bound  India- 
man  know  much  about  the  matter.*  Bat  here  also,  as 
in  so  many  other  things,  there  was  a  drawback.  For 
pigs  are  such  cheerful  creatures  at  sea  that,  as  a  soft- 
hearted old  skipper  once  remarked,  "  You  get  too 
partial  towards  them,  and  feel  after  dinner  sometimes 
as  though  you  had  eaten  an  old  messmate.'* 

Next  to  the  pig,  the  goat  was  the  most  useful 
stock  on  a  sea-farm.  This  animal  soon  makes  itself 
at  home  on  shipboard;  it  has  good  sea-legs,  and  is 
blessed  with  an  appetite  that  nothing  in  the  shape 
of  vegetable  fibre  comes  amiss  to,  from  an  armful  of 

*  As  tending  to  prove  what  a  favourite  dish  this  was  among  old 
sea-captains,  it  used  to  be  related  by  an  ancient  waiter  of  the  old 
Quebec  Hotel,  Portsmouth,  that  upon  a  certain  memorable  day,  years 
ago,  when  three  brothers — all  skippers  of  ships  then  wind-bound  at 
Spithead — met,  and  agreed  to  dine  together,  the  dinner  to  consist 
only  of  three  dishes  ordered  independently  by  each  captain,  that  on 
removing  the  covers  three  smoking  legs  of  boiled  pork  graced  the 
table. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        181 

shavings  from  the  carpenter's  berth  to  an  old  news- 
paper or  log-book. 

Preserved  milk  was,  of  course,  unknown  in  those 
times ;  and  the  officers  of  a  large  passenger-ship  would 
rather  have  gone  to  sea  without  a  doctor  (to  say 
nothing  of  a  parson)  than  without  a  cow  or  some 
nanny-goats.  The  ship's  cow  and  her  health  was 
always  a  most  important  matter  in  large  passenger- 
ships,  and  the  author  remembers  a  case  when,  after 
a  long  spell  of  very  bad  weather,  one  of  these  creatures 
fell  off  in  her  supply  of  milk  for  the  cabin-table,  how 
she  was  brought  round  again  by  a  liberal  supply  of 
nourishing  stout,  wisely  prescribed  for  her  by  the 
ship's  doctor.  Even  on  board  a  man-of-war,  the 
admiral  or  captain  generally  had  at  least  one  goat 
for  his  own  use,  while  space  was  found  for  live  stock 
for  other  wardroom  officers.  But  model-farming  and 
home-feeding  was  the  rule  then  as  now  in  the  navy ; 
and  it  is  related  that  on  board  one  of  these  vessels,  the 
first  lieutenant  ordered  the  ship's  painter  to  give  the 
feet  and  bills  of  the  admiral's  geese,  that  were  stowed 
in  coops  upon  the  quarter-deck,  a  coat  of  black  once  a 
week,  so  that  the  nautical  eye  might  not  be  offended 
by  any  intrusion  of  colour  not  allowed  in  the  service. 

The  general  absence  of  colour  among  the  true  sea- 
fowl  is  very  marked ;  and  when,  as  it  sometimes 


182  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

happened,  a  gay  rooster,  after  an  exciting  chase  round 
the  decks  by  Jemmy  Ducks,  escaped  overboard,  and 
fluttered  helplessly  down  upon  the  bosom  of  the  sea, 
his  glowing  plumage  looked  strangely  out  of  harmony 
with  things  as  he  sat  drifting  away  astern  upon  the 
waste  of  waters. 

The  administration  of  a  farm,  even  on  shore,  is  not 
always  unruffled  ;  so  that  it  was  not  to  be  hoped  that 
the  management  of  live  stock  afloat  should  be  carried 
on  without  some  grumbling  and  discontent. 

Passengers'  stock,  shipped  either  for  use  at  sea,  or 
with  a  view  to  speculation  upon  its  arrival  at  a  distant 
colony,  was  often  tended  by  a  sort  of  private  farm- 
servant,  whose  notions  of  feeding,  water  supply,  etc., 
often  clashed  violently  with  those  of  Jemmy  Ducks 
and  the  ship's  officers  generally.  On  board  a  man-of- 
war,  when  an  enemy  hove  in  sight,  and  the  order  to 
clear  for  action  came,  short  work  was  made  of  the 
farm-buildings  and  their  population.  But,  even  in  this 
extreme  case,  some  of  the  admiral's  geese  and  pigs 
often  survived — stowed  away  on  neutral  ground  among 
the  water-casks  in  the  lower  hold,  whence  their  squeal- 
ing and  cackling  could  at  times  be  heard  amidst  the 
roar  of  artillery  above  them.  Short  keep  and  bad 
weather  made  sad  havoc  among  the  live  stock  of  a 
ship-farm.  And  this  little  quotation  from  the  narrative 
of  a  South  Sea  whaling  captain,  in  the  year  1794,  will 


IN  THE  DAYS.  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        183 

give  some  idea  of  the  trouble  attending  the  rearing  of 
poultry  in  low  latitudes  after  two  years  spent  at  sea. 
"  In  every  awkward  circumstance  in  which  we  found 
ourselves,  all  on  board,  from  the  whaling-master  to  the 
lowest  seaman,  had  perfect  confidence  in  my  opinion. 
But  the  superstition  of  a  seaman's  mind  is  not  easily 
subdued ;  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that  I  could 
preserve  an  hen  who  had  been  hatched  and  bred  on 
board,  and  who  at  this  time  was  accompanied  by  a  small 
brood  of  chickens,*  from  being  destroyed  in  order  to  quit 
the  ill  omen  that  had  been  occasioned  by  the  unexpected 
crowing  of  the  animal  during  the  preceding  night." 

In  ships  bound  upon  long  voyages  in  ballast,  such 
as  those  engaged  in  the  North  American  timber  trade, 
it  was  not  unusual  for  the  captain  to  do  a  little  prac- 
tical farming  in  the  hold  of  his  ship  by  planting  out 
upon  the  freshly  trimmed  ballast,  cabbage,  lettuce, 
spring  onions,  or  any  edible  root  that  was  likely  to 
thrive  in  the  soil  he  chanced  to  carry  across  the 
Atlantic  with  him.  Most  ships,  some  years  back,  had 
a  small  kitchen-garden  planted  in  boxes  of  earth  in 
the  jolly-boat,  which  boat  was  further  crammed  to 
her  gunwales  with  greengroceries  of  every  sort ;  and, 
weather  permitting,  this  little  garden  was  a  source  of 
great  pleasure  to  a  solitary  skipper  on  a  long  voyage. 

*  We  have  here  two  generations  of  ship-bred  poultry. 


184  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE    XIV. 

OLD    GROUND- TACKLE. 

From  hemp  and  sails  to  chain  and  steam — A  lost  art — Keeping  a  clear 
hawse — Size  and  weight  of  old  hemp  cables — The  old  wooden- 
stocked  anchor — Some  advantages  of  it — A  ship's  "  manger,"  and 
what  she  disposed  of  in  it — A  foal  anchor — Two  round  turns  in 
the  hawse — Consequent  troubles — "  The  bitter  end  " — Anchoring 
under  sail  and  steam — Big  and  little  ships  as  roadsters — 
Dragging,  etc. — Proceedings  on  board  Lord  Anson's  ship,  Cen- 
turion, anchored  off  the  island  of  Tinian — Wind  against  tide — 
Pooped  by  her  long-boat — Drives  to  sea  with  three  cables 
hanging*  in  her  hawse,  etc. 

IF  there  be  one  thing  on  which  the  modern  steam 
seaman  should  congratulate  himself,  in  comparing  his 
lot  with  those  who  manned  our  navy  when,  "All  in 
the  Downs  the  fleet  lay  moored,"  it  ought  to  be  his 
freedom  from  the  many  small  cares  and  worries  attend- 
ing the  use  of  hemp,  or  even  chain  cables,  before  the 
introduction  of  steam. 

Almost  the  last  words  of  Nelson  to  his  sailing- 
master  were,  "Anchor,  Hardy;  anchor!"  Owing  to 
the  gale  then  threatening,  this  advice  of  the  dying 


IN   THE   DAYS  OF  OAK   AND   HEMP.  185 

hero  could  not  be  followed  out.  But  it  is  not  easy  for 
even  a  sailor  to-day  to  realize  all  the  troublesome 
details  which  had  to  be  looked  to  on  board  an  old  line- 
of-battle-ship  like  the  Victory,  before  this  simple 
command  could  be  rightly  carried  out,  or  the  various 
acts  of  seamanship  required  in  those  days  in  mooring 
or  unmooring  ships  on  entering  or  leaving  crowded 
roadsteads  like  the  Downs  or  Spithead.  Something  of 
this  old  nautical  lore,  no  doubt,  still  lingers  among  us 
here  and  there,  bottled  up  in  the  brain  of  a  collier- 
brig's  skipper. 

But  as  these  old  mariners  pass  away  with  their 
ships,  so  these  small  but  important  details — such  as 
keeping  a  clear  hawse  by  tending  a  ship  with  forestay- 
sail  or  spanker  each  time  she  swings  to  her  anchor 
with  a  change  of  tide — will,  for  sheer  want  of  practice, 
come  to  be  reckoned  among  some  of  the  lost  arts  of 
seamanship. 

The  change  from  hemp  to  chain  cables  was  an 
enormous  boon  to  seamen  and  shipowners ;  relieving 
them  at  once  of  the  great  trouble,  anxiety,  and 
expense  entailed  by  the  perishable  nature  of  the  cum- 
bersome hempen  cables,  which,  when  coiled  down  in 
a  frigate's  cable-tier,  filled  nearly  a  fourth  of  her 
hold. 

Less  than  forty  years  back,  one  often  saw,  standing 


186 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


as  a  sign  outside  the  marine-store  dealer's  warehouse, 
facing  the  figure  of  a  little  post-captain  and  his  sex- 


tant, a  short  junk  of  one  of  these  cahles,  and  from 
the  size  and  texture  of  such  a  specimen,  might  form 
some  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  handling  these  great 


IN   THE   DAYS  OF   OAK   AND   HEMP. 


187 


hemp  cables,*  now  long  since  all  picked  to  shreds  as 
oakum.  But  at  places  like  Deal  or  Yarmouth,  one 
may  still  often  see  some  of  the  big  wooden-stocked 
broad-palmed  anchors,  with  rings  over  two  feet  in 
diameter,  through  which  these  stout  cables  once 
passed  and  were  bent,  or  clenched,  after  the  ring  had 
been  scientifically  "puddened"  by  "  serving"  round 
it  much  small  rope  and  canvas,  to  save  the  cable 


Old  wooden-stocked  anchors  lying  in  state. 

from  chafe  ;  while  the  cable,  when  an  anchor  was 
let  go  upon  foul  or  rocky  ground,  was  also  defended 
by  "keckling,"  or  winding  rope,  or  even  small  chain, 
about  it.  In  such  cases  the  cable,  too,  was  at  times 
buoyed  by  casks,  lashed  to  it  at  intervals,  so  that  it 

*  The  hemp  cable  of  a  ship  of  a  thousand  tons  was  over  eight 
inches  in  diameter ;  a  hundred  fathoms  of  it  weighed  about  six  and  a 
half  tons,  and  was  tested  to  a  strain  of  sixty- five  tons  ;  equal  to  the 
strength  of  a  2|-inch  chain  cable,  a  hundred  fathoms  of  which 
weighed  twelve  and  a  half  tons.  The  largest  anchor  used  with  such 
a  cable  weighed  about  five  tons. 


188  OLD  SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

floated  safely  above  the  rough  sea-bottom  at  some 
distance  from  the  anchor. 

The  big  wooden  stocks  of  these  ancient  anchors 
possessed  one  advantage  over  the  more  slender  iron 
stock  of  the  ordinary  modern  one,  especially  when  one 
was  let  go  upon  a  soft  muddy  bottom,  or  upon  what 
seamen  sometimes  call  "  rotten  ground,"  into  which 
the  slender  iron  stock  is  at  times  apt  to  sink,  in  place 
of  canting  the  anchor.  In  which  case  the  ship  rides 
to,  or  is  held  only  by  the  stock  of  her  anchor,  and 
should  a  gale  spring  up,  will  steadily  drag  it  through 
the  soft  ground  until  it  is  brought  up  by  something 
harder,  when  the  chances  are  it  either  bends,  or  breaks, 
at  the  point  where  it  passes  through  the  shank  of  the 
anchor.  With  the  stouter,  old-fashioned  timber  stock, 
this  was  less  likely  to  occur ;  while,  if  the  timber  stock 
did  enter  the  ground,  the  great  size  and  strength  of  it 
was  more  likely  to  hold  on  than  the  slighter  iron  one. 
Most  fishermen,  hailing  from  the  muddy-bottomed 
south  hams  of  England,  still  use  strong  oaken  stocks, 
fitted  to  their  anchors,  which  have  also  rather  broad 
palms ;  while  old  seamen  had  a  method  of  increasing 
the  holding  power  of  an  anchor  in  oozy  ground,  by 
enlarging  the  palms  of  it  by  means  of  flat  pieces  of 
wood  secured  to  them. 

The  great    size   of   hemp   cables,    compared   with 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        189 

chain,  required  very  large  openings,  or  hawse-pipes, 
in  the  ship's  bows  ;  which,  when  riding  bows  under, 
with  a  heavy  sea,  caused  her  to  take  in  much  water 
for'ard.  It  was  to  receive  and  check  the  flow  of  this 
water,  and  that  which  ran  off  the  cable  itself  when 
hove  in,  that  ships  had  a  large  compartment  just  abaft 
the  hawse-pipes,  called  the  "  maoger,"  furnished  with 
a  breakwater  and  scuppers,  through  which  the  sea 
passed  out  of  the  ship,  instead  of  flooding  her  between 
decks.  This  manger  is  shown  in  the  section  of  a 
frigate's  bow,  page  186. 

A  foul  anchor — that  is,  one  entangled  in  its  cable — 
which,  curiously  enough,  is  the  strange  device  upon  our 
naval  button,  always  was,  and  perhaps  is  now,  when 
seen,  regarded  by  seamen  as  a  thing  that  marked  a 
careless  lubber  or  lazy  shipmaster. 

Except  when  riding  to  a  permanent  swivel-moor- 
ing, the  greatest  attention  was  always  given  to  a  ship 
with  more  than  one  anchor  down  to  keep  a  clear 
hawse ;  a  foul  one  meaning  that,  for  want  of  this 
care,  the  ship  in  swinging  for  several  days  or  tides 
had  taken  first  "a  cross,"  then  "  an  elbow,"  followed 
by  "a  round  turn;"  while  more  turns  than  these 
were  spoken  of  as  "a  round  turn  and  an  elbow,"  or 
"  two  round  turns." 

Captain   Marry att,   in   "  Peter   Simple,"    draws    a 


190  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

touching  picture  of  the  feelings  of  an  old  salt  upon 
this  subject,  when  he  makes  the  master  of  the  Sang- 
lier  frigate  say,  on  declining  to  join  his  brother 
officers  at  the  Governor's  ball  at  Barbadoes,  that  "  he'd 
as  soon  have  two  round  turns  in  his  hawse,  as  go  to 
see  people  kick  their  legs  about  like  fools,"  and  that 
"  he'd  stay  and  take  care  of  the  ship." 

I  regret  to  have  to  record  it,  but  during  the  late 
naval  evolutions,  spite  of  the  facilities  one  would 
expect  steam  to  have  given  modern  seamen  in  keeping 
a  clear  hawse,  several  ships  were  much  delayed  when 
getting  under  way,  by  having  first  to  clear  their 
hawse.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  in  real  warfare, 
or  with  bad  weather  coming  upon  them  suddenly,  such 
a  state  of  things  might  mean  something  more  than 
the  slipping  a  cable,  or  the  loss  of  an  anchor  and 
some  chain.  In  the  old  days  of  hemp  cables,  a  few 
blows  of  an  axe  quickly  solved  this  problem  of  clearing 
hawse  in  a  hurry  ;  hence,  no  doubt,  the  term,  "  He  cut 
and  ran." 

The  chain  cable  has  to  some  extent  made  this 
work  of  untwisting  a  foul  hawse  easier  than  it  was 
when  a  hemp  cable,  say  of  eighty-five  fathoms  in 
length,  had  to  be  unspliced  from  the  next  length 
before  doing  so,  or  if,  riding  to  forty  fathoms  of  a 
cable,  the  whole  remaining  forty -five  fathoms  had  to  be 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        191 

passed  out  through  one  hawse-hole  to  its  "  bitter 
end"*  before  a  single  turn  could  be  cleared.  With 
the  chain  cable  one  length  is  easily  and  quickly 
unshackled,  at  the  nearest  shackle  or  connecting-link, 
usually  not  in  ore  than  ten  fathoms  apart,  within  the 
ship.  But.  with  her  engines  always  at  hand  to  assist 
her  anchor,  a  modern  steamer  or  man-of-war  seldom 
has  need  to  perform  this  operation,  as  she  rarely  rides 
to  more  than  single  anchor. 

The  mere  act  of  bringing  up  and  selecting  a  good 
berth  with  a  large  ship  under  canvas,  especially  in  a 
crowded  roadstead,  is  an  actual  fine  art,  compared  with 
doing  the  same  thing  under  steam,  however  large  the 
ship  may  be.  And  to  do  it  rightly  under  all  conditions 
of  weather  requires  accurate  judgment  of  distance,  and 
the  effect  of  wind  and  tide  upon  a  ship's  sails  and 
hull.  The  captain  of  a  steamer,  when  choosing  his 
berth,  has  only  to  move  a  handle  in  order  to  give  his 
vessel  the  requisite  head  or  stern  way ;  while,  after  his 
first  anchor  is  down,  he  has  his  steam  to  help  it,  or  to 
move  his  ship  a  few  yards  to  right  or  left  before 
mooring  her  with  a  second  anchor ;  all  which,  in  a 

*  "  The  bitter  end "  of  a  cable  (an  old  sea- term  now  obsolete) 
was  that  part  which  remained  abaft  the  bitts  within  board.  "  To 
veer  away  to  the  bitter  end  "  meant,  therefore,  to  the  extreme  length 
of  one  cable,  and  hence,  I  believe,  the  origin  of  the  phrase,  so  often 
used  by  landsmen,  "  to  the  bitter  end." 


192  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,    AND   WORDS, 

sailing-ship,  has  to  be  done  by  much  bracing  about  of 
yards,  in  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  head  or  stern 

way. 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  heaving  in  and  getting 
under  way ;  which,  with  steam  to  help  both  crew  and 
master,  is  a  very  simple  business  compared  with  the 
old  way  of  heaving  short  by  capstan,  or  windlass,  and 
"  casting,"  or  turning  the  ship's  head  at  exactly  the 
right  moment,  in  the  right  direction,  by  sail-power 
only.  Again,  upon  letting  go  an  anchor,  the  friction 
set  up  as  the  hemp  cable  passed  over  the  bitts,  and 
through  the  hawse-pipes,  made  it  so  hot  that  the  tarry 
surface  often  took  fire,  and  men  were  always  stationed 
at  these  points,  with  buckets  of  water,  to  prevent  this 
"  firing  of  the  cable,"  or  even  of  the  bitts  and  timbers 
round  the  heated  hawse-pipes.  It  may  be  said  by 
modern  seamen  that  ships  are  much  larger  now,  and 
altogether  less  handy  than  the  old  ones,  and  that  they 
require  far  more  care  in  bringing  up  than  those  of  our 
ancestors.  This  is  true  enough,  if  one  of  these  masses 
of  iron  is  once  allowed,  as  sailors  say,  "  to  take  charge," 
or  an  attempt  is  made  to  check  her  weight  and  way 
too  quickly;  but  once  at  rest,  it  is  well  known  to 
seamen  that  a  long  heavy  ship  actually  rides  far  easier 
in  a  seaway,  and  with  less  strain  upon  her  anchors  and 
chains,  in  proportion  to  her  size,  than  a  short  beamy 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


193 


one,  which,  as  she  tosses  her  bluff  bows  to  the  sea, 
continually  throws  an  uncertain  surging  strain  upon 
her  cables;  and  such  a  vessel  often  requires  better 
ground-tackle  to  hold  her  than  a  larger  one. 


Brig  riding  in  the  Downs. 

This  is  a  fortunate  fact  for  our  ponderous  iron- 
clads;  for,  if  they  were  not  better  "  roadsters  "  than 
our  line-of-battle  ships  were,  no  anchors  or  chains 
yet  forged  would  bear  the  strain  of  their  weight  in  a 
jump.  As  dragging  an  anchor  in  a  crowded  tideway 
generally  meant  falling  foul  of  other  vessels,  and 
the  consequent  dragging  or  slipping  from  their  anchors 
until  an  entire  fleet  was  often  started  in  hopeless 
drift  and  confusion  by  the  neglect  or  incompetence 
of  one  careless  ship-master,  seamen  had,  before  the 


194  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

days  of  handy  tugs,  and  steam,  to  be  more  wide- 
awake to  the  proper  use  of  the  ground-tackle  than 
seems  to  have  been  the  case  with  certain  officers  in 
charge  of  some  of  her  Majesty's  ships  in  the  late  Naval 
Manoeuvres.*  After  reading  the  following  account,  by 
Mr.  Eichard  Walters,  of  some  u  proceedings  "  on  board 
Lord  Anson's  ship,  the  Centurion,  when  driven  to  sea 
from  her  anchorage  off  the  island  of  Tinian,  in  the 
Pacific,  one  really  wonders  that,  after  a  long  voyage, 
our  old  sailors  ever  had  an  anchor  or  single  serviceable 
cable  left  on  board  their  ships.  It  is  also  an  excellent 

*  "  An  error  of  judgment  in  not  making  sufficient  allowance  for 
the  strength  of  the  tide  "  was  the  only  reason  given  by  the  First 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty  in  answer  to  a  question  in  Parliament  for  the 
fouling  of  the  North  Goodwin  lightship  by  H.M.S.  Rodney,  and  of 
the  Newark  lightship  by  H.M.S.  Elk  during  the  mobilization  of  our 
fleet  in  August,  1889.  Neither  vessel  had  a  pilot  on  board,  but  were 
navigated  (?)  by  their  own  officers.  About  the  same  time  the  training- 
brig  Nautilus,  in  moving  out  of  Portsmouth  Harbour  to  Spithead. 
collided  with  the  Martin,  tender  to  the  training-ship  St.  Vincent, 
which  was  moored  in  the  waterway.  The  Nautilus  carried  away  her 
fore-royal,  and  the  Martin  lost  her  flying-jibboom.  After  the  vessels 
got  clear,  the  Nautilus  was  towed  out  to  Spithead  by  the  Government 
tug  Malta.  Another  training  -brig,  the  Liberty,  also  of  Portsmouth, 
ran  ashore  soon  afterwards  upon  the  Admiralty  bank,  but  was  sub- 
sequently got  off.  We  read  also,  among  the  more  fashionable 
shipping  disasters  of  this  period,  how  Lord  Brassey's  steam-yacht 
Sunbeam  took  the  ground  at  Ryde,  and  lay  oh  her  beam  ends  for 
many  hours,  until  towed  off  on  the  following  day  by  the  tug  Victoria. 
Among  those  on  board  the  Sunbeam  at  the  time  were  Sir  M.  Hicks 
Beach,  Mr.  Ritchie,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chamberlain,  Lord  Charles 
Beresford,  Mr.  Forwood,  Sir  F.  Leigh  ton,  and  Lord  Claud  Hamilton. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        195 

picture  of  the  perils  and  labour  attending  the  use  of 
hemp  cables  in  exposed  roadsteads  without  steam  to 
fall  back  upon.  The  Centurion  had  been  at  anchor  for 
some  time  off  the  island  of  Tinian  to  refresh  her 
scurvy-stricken  officers  and  men,  and  her  water-casks 
had  just  been  sent  ashore,  after  which,  Mr.  Walters 
says,  "  we  weighed  our  anchors,  to  examine  our  cables, 
which,  owing  to  the  bottom  of  this  road  being  full 
of  sharp-pointed  coral  rocks,  we  suspected  had  by  this 
time  received  considerable  damage.  And  as  the  new 
moon  was  now  approaching,  when  we  apprehended 
violent  gales,  the  commodore,  for  greater  security, 
ordered  that  part  of  the  cables  next  the  anchors  to  be 
armed  with  the  chains  of  the  fire-grapnels  ;  *  besides 
which  they  were  cackled  twenty  fathoms  from  the 
anchors  and  seven  from  the  service  "  (i.e.  where  they 
passed  through  the  hawse-pipes)  "  with  a  good  round- 
ing of  4^-inch  hawser;  while  to  these  precautions  we 
added  that  of  lowering  the  main  and  foreyard  close 
down,  that  in  case  of  blowing  weather  the  wind  might 
have  less  power  upon  the  ship  to  make  her  ride  a 
strain. 

*  This  was  a  special  form  of  grapnel  fitted  with  chain,  and  so 
called  because  they  were  not  only  used  to  secure  one  ship  to  another 
in  boarding,  but  were  hung  about  the  bowsprit  and  rigging  of  fire- 
ships  when  started  to  run  before  the  wind  upon  an  enemy's  fleet. 
The  yardarms  of  a  fire-ship  were  also  furnished  with  iron  hooks. 


196  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

"  Thus  effectually  prepared,  as  we  conceived,  we 
waited  till  the  new  moon  on  the  18th  of  September, 
when  riding  safe  that  and  the  three  following  days 
(though  the  weather  proved  very  squally  and  iincer- 
tain),  we  flattered  ourselves  that  the  prudence  of  our 
measures  had  secured  us  from  all  accidents.  But 
on  the  22nd  the  wind  blew  from  east  with  such  fury 
that  we  soon  despaired  of  riding  out  the  storm.  Tn 
this  conjuncture  we  should  have  been  glad  if  the 
commodore  and  rest  of  our  people  on  shore  had  been 
on  board ;  our  only  hope  of  safety  seeming  to  depend 
upon  our  putting  to  sea  at  once.  But  all  communica- 
tion with  the  shore  was  now  absolutely  cut  off,  for 
there  was  no  possibility  that  a  boat  could  live,  so  that 
we  were  necessitated  to  ride  it  out  till  our  cables 
parted.  Indeed,  we  were  not  long  expecting  this 
dreadful  event,  for  the  small  bower  parted  at  five  in 
the  afternoon ;  while,  toward  evening  the  violence  of 
the  wind  still  increased,  though,  notwithstanding  its 
inexpressible  fury,  the  tide  ran  so  strong  as  to  prevail 
over  it,  forcing  the  ship  before  it  in  spite  of  the  storm. 

"  The  sea  now  broke  most  surprisingly  all  round 
us;  and  a  large  tumbling  swell  threatened  to  poop  us, 
by  which  the  long-boat,  at  this  time  moored  astern, 
was  on  a  sudden  canted  so  high  that  it  broke  the 
transom  of  the  commodore's  gallery,  whose  cabin  was 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF   OAK   AND  HEMP. 


197 


198  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

on  the  quarter-deck,  and  doubtless  would  have  risen 
as  high  as  the  taffrail  had  it  not  been  for  the  stroke  ; 
and  yet  the  poor  boat-keeper,  though  much  bruised, 
was  saved  almost  by  miracle. 

"At  eight  p.m.  the  tide  slackened;  but  the  wind 
not  abating,  the  best  bower,  by  which  alone  we  rode, 
parted  at  eleven.  Our  sheet-anchor,  the  only  one 
left,  was  instantly  cut  from  the  bow,  but  before  it 
reached  bottom  we  drove  from  twenty-two  into  thirty- 
five  fathoms,  and  after  veering  away  one  whole  cable 
and  two-thirds  of  another,  we  found  no  ground  at 
sixty  fathoms,  a  plain  indication  that  our  anchor  lajr 
near  the  edge  of  .a  bank,  and  would  not  hold  us  long. 
In  this  pressing  danger,  Mr.  Saumarez,  our  first 
lieutenant,  ordered  guns  to  be  fired,  and  lights  shown 
as  a  signal  of  our  distress  to  the  commodore  ashore. 
About  one  o'clock,  the  night  being  excessively  dark,  a 
strong  gust,  with  lightning  and  rain,  drove  us  off  the 
bank,  and  forced  us  to  sea,  leaving  Mr.  Anson,  with 
more  of  our  officers  and  crew,  to  the  number  of  a 
hundred  and  thirteen,  behind  us. 

"  Our  condition  was  truly  deplorable  ;  in  a  leaky 
ship,  with  three  cables  in  our  hawses,  to  one  of  which 
hung  our  only  remaining  anchor.  We  had  not  a  gun 
on  board  lashed,  or  a  port  barred  in  "  (the  Centurion 
was  a  sixty-gun  ship),  "  our  shrouds  were  loose,  our 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        199 

topmasts  unrigged,  and  our  fore  and  main  yards  close 
down  ;  so  that  we  had  no  sail  to  set  except  the  mizzen. 
We  had  scarcely  a  fourth  of  our  complement  on  board, 
and  of  these  most  were  either  boys,  or  those  lately 
recovered  of  scurvy.  The  ship  made  so  much  water 
by  working,  and  through  our  open  hawse-holes,  ports, 
and  scuppers,  that  we  found  our  pumps  alone  sufficient 
employment  for  all.'7 

An  attempt  "  to  sway  up  the  mainyard  "  ended  in 
the  breaking  of  the  jeers. 

"  This  turbulent  weather  continued  for  three  days, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  fourth  day  after  our  being  driven 
from,  our  anchorage  that,  after  twelve  hours'  severe 
work,  we  were  able  to  heave  in  upon  our  cable  suffi- 
ciently to  bring  our  sheet-anchor  in  sight ;  when, 
darkness  coming  on,  and  being  excessively  fatigued, 
we  had  to  leave  our  work  unfinished  till  next  morning. 
Thus,  it  was  the  27th  of  September,  five  days  after 
leaving  Tinian,  before  we  had  secured  our  only  re- 
maining anchor." 


200  OLD  SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

EAKLY   NAVIGATORS   AND    THEIR    NAUTICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 

An  early  training  college  for  young  gentlemen  at  Wapping  New 
Stairs — The  whole  art  of  navigation  as  taught  there  by  Joshua 
Kelly,  mariner — Domestic  navigation — A  Dutch  picture  of  sea- 
bottom — Five  ways  of  finding  the  longitude — A  sand  clock — 
Its  chimes — Making  eight  bells — "  Flogging  the  clock  "  or  glass 
— One  that  was  never  flogged,  painted  for  us  by  Mr.  Hogarth — 
A  good  rule  for  all  master-mariners — The  old  binnacle — Captain 
Cook's  compass — Da  vis's  quadrant — The  cross-staff — A  star 
clock — A  frigate's  day's  work  at  sea  in  1742 — The  traverse- 
board. 

AN  advertisement  of  about  the  year  1720  tells  us 
that  "  In  Broad  Street,  Wapping,  near  Wapping  New 
Stairs,  are  taught  the  mathematical  sciences,  navi- 
gation, astronomy,  dialling,  gauging,  gunnery,  fortify- 
cation,  the  use  of  the  globes,  and  the  projection  of 
the  sphere  upon  any  circle,  by  Joshua  Kelly,  mariner. 
With  whom  young  gentlemen  and  others  are  well 
boarded,  and  compleatly  and  expeditiously  qualify'd 
(on  reasonable  terms)  for  any  business  relating  to 
accompts  and  the  mathematicks." 

This    Joshua     Kelly    was    the     author    of    "  The 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 

Compleat  Modern  Navigator's  Tutor;  or,  the  Whole 
Art  of  Navigation ; "  which  art,  Kelly  says  in  his 
preface  (dedicated  "  to  the  Master,  Wardens,  and 


Master-mariner  costume  of  1740. 


Elder  Brethren  of  the  Trinity  House,  Stroud,  Depfort  "), 
"  is  allowed  by  all,  and  well  known  hy  those  of  the 
nohle  tribe  of  Zabulon,  to  be  one  by  which  islands 


202       OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

are  enrich'd  and  preserv'd  from  invasion,  the  wonderful 
works  of  an  omniscient  Creator  in  the  wide  ocean,  and 
remote  nations  delightfully  beheld,  etc. ;  while  'tis  no 
mean  accomplishment  to  be  capable  of  conducting 
a  ship  richly  laden  round  the  world."  The  preface 
concludes  with  the  words  of  the  poet — 

"  He  that  hath  art, 
And  can  impart 
That  art  with  art, 
Is  master  of  his  art." 

The  first  part  of  Kelly's  book  treats  of  what  our 
master-mariner  quaintly  calls  "  domestic  or  coasting 
navigation."  From  which  essay  it  appears  that  the 
deep-sea  lead  of  that  time  was  almost  a  third  eye 
to  these  old  seamen,  and  so  frequently  and  carefully 
used  that,  through  its  tallowed  retina,  the  actual 
bottom  of  the  channel  from  Scilly  to  Dunnose  was 
almost  a  visible  reality.  And  every  little  detail  of 
this  leaden  eye's  view  is  carefully  recorded  by  Kelly 
in  a  table,  from  which  we  learn  that  "  twenty-five 
miles  east  by  north  of  Scilly  Islands,  in  seventy-two 
fathoms,"  the  sea  bottom  was  then  "pepper  sand, 
black  and  yellow,  passing  into  branny  sand  like  ground 
wheat."  Then  comes  "  ouse  sand,  with  Queen  shells; 
white  sand,  with  ouse  and  nits,"  followed  by  "  branny 
sand,  herring-bones,  and  small  stones."  Further  up 
Channel,  near  the  Lizard,  the  lead  showed  "  marshy 


IN  THE  DAYS  CF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        203 

shells,  like  oatmeal  husks;"  while  off  the  (at  that 
time  old  wooden)  lighthouse  upon  the  Eddystone, 
the  bottom  resembled  "  the  dust  off  a  grindstone 
with  hake's  teeth."  What  a  contrast  is  this  minute 
investigation,  and  almost  Dutch  picture  of  the  sea 
bottom,  to  the  hasty  glance  of  a  modern  seaman, 
taking  an  occasional  flying  shot  at  it,  with  Sir 
William  Thomson's  sounding-tubes,  as  he  rushes  up 
Channel  at  sixteen  or  eighteen  knots ! 

For  want  of  correct  time-keepers,  a  ship's  longi- 
tude at  sea  was  then  an  unsolved  problem  ;  but 
Kelly  describes  what  he  calls  "  five  of  the  most 
rational  ways  of  finding  it ;  "  wisely,  however,  advising 
"  no  one  to  confide  too  much  in  them,  or  to  omit 
any  of  the  methods  of  a  journal,  or  other  precautions, 
to  preserve  a  ship  when  she  nears  land." 

Among  these  five  methods,  eclipses  of  the  moon, 
and  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  of  course  come  first.  But 
of  one  of  these  he  says,  "  this  method  would  be 
accurate  and  useful  if  we  could  have  an  eclipse  of 
the  moon  every  night ;  "  while  of  the  other,  he 
remarks  "  that  the  impracticability  of  managing  a 
telescope  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  long  in  the  tossing 
rolling  motion  of  a  ship  at  sea,  surrounds  it  with 
difficulties  scarce  to  be  remedy'd." 

The   craving   of  these   early   navigators  for   some 


204  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

form  of  good  sea  time-keeper,  is  shown  by  Kelly's 
fourth  "  method  of  finding  the  longitude  by  automatas, 
or  unerring  clocks,  watches,  or  hour-glasses ;  "  where 
directions  are  given  for  preparing  and  using  a  "  very 
perfect  and  true-running  sand-glass,  which  may  pre- 
cisely run  twenty-four  hours  without  error,  to  be  set 
exactly  at  noon  on  leaving  the  land;  wrhich  upon 
being  run  out  is  to  be  turned  instantly,  not  losing 
any  time  in  the  turning  of  it."  "  And  so,"  says 
Kelly,  "  having  very  warily  kept  the  said  glasse  'til 
you  think  good  to  make  an  observation  at  noon, 
and  having  in  readiness  an  half-hour,  minute,  and 
half-minute  glasse,  you  may  thereby  know  exactly 
how  much  the  twenty-four-hour  glasse  is  before  or 
after  the  ship's  time ;  the  difference  being  your 
longitude  east  or  west,  according  as  the  time  by 
the  sun  is  afore  or  after  the  time  by  the  glass." 

Time  on  shipboard  was  then  always  estimated  by 
the  glass,  and  in  old  accounts  of  sea-fights  such 
expressions  as,  "  We  engaged  the  enemy  over  three 
glasses  before  he  hauled  down  his  ensigne "  often 
occur.  Strong  time-keepers,  or  cabin-clocks,  with 
balance-wheel  escapements,  like  those  used  in  carriages 
ashore,  are  plentiful  enough  on  board  ship  to-day ; 
but  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  a  sand-glass,  running 
half  an  hour,  or  one  that  ran  an  hour,  but  wrhich 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


205 


indicated  the  half-hour  by  a  mark  or  band  round  it, 
was  the  only  clock  by  which  sea  time  was  kept. 

The  chimes  of  this  clock  were  of  course  the  ship's 
bell,  struck  by  the  man  at  the  wheel  or  quartermaster, 
who  eight  times  in  each  watch  turned 
his  half-hour  glass,  marking  at  the 
same  time,  by  strokes  upon  a  small 
bell  near  him,  the  number  of  half- 
hours  that  had  passed  since  he  took 
charge  of  the  helm  ;  these  strokes 
being  repeated  by  the  larger  bell  in 
the  belfry  forward. 

Time  and  longitude  are  synony- 
mous terms  at  sea,  and,  unless  the 
weather  is  very  thick,  the  officers  of 
a  large  ocean-steamer  are  almost 
constantly  busy  with  their  sextants,  oid  sea-clock. 
and  are  able  by  night  or  day  to  tell  to  a  minute 
the  exact  change  in  a  ship's  longitude  or  time.  But 
in  those  days  the  taking  of  even  the  sun's  meridian 
altitude  was  a  solemn  business ;  and  the  captain 
and  mate's  old  weather-stained  quadrants  rarely  ap- 
peared on  deck  except  toward  the  close  of  the  sea 
day — that  is,  about  half  an  hour  before  noon.  Nowa- 
days everybody  on  board  ship  knows  all  about  such 
matters ;  but  in  those  times  few  but  the  captain  or 


206  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

mate  had  the  remotest  idea  of  how,  after  screwing  up 
his  eye  at  the  sea-line,  and  swaying  the  lower  part  of 
his  ebony  quadrant  to  and  fro  for  five  minutes  or  so, 
the  skipper  knew  when  to  say  in  an  impressive  tone 
to  his  mate,  "  Make  eight  bells,  Mr.  So-and-so."  All 
that  even  the  ship's  company  knew  was  that  their 
captain  "  'ad  took  the  sun,"  and  that  he  never  failed 
to  do  so  whenever  he  hove  in  sight  at  noon.  Though 
the  "old  sea-clock"  is  now  superseded  by  a  clock  or 
big  watch  in  the  binnacle,  the  term  "  flog  the  clock" 
remains  among  sailors  when  putting  it  forward  or  back, 
and  is  evidently  derived  from  the  much  older  one  of 
u  flog  the  glass,"  or  turn  it  before  all  the  sand  had 
run  through,  in  order  fco  shorten  a  watch  on  deck. 

I  have  one  of  the  older  forms  of  these  glasses  before 
me,  which  is  of  the  pattern  of  those  used  as  emblems 
upon  headstones  in  old  churchyards,  placed  over  a  skull 
and  cross-bones. 

A  good  picture  of  it  is  to  be  seen  on  the  left  side 
of  the  parson's  pulpit  (with  the  sand  all  ran  down) 
in  Hogarth's  plate  of  "  The  Sleeping  Congregation," 
showing  that  in  small  churches  of  that  date  the 
clergyman  regulated  the  length  of  his  discourse  by  a 
sand-clock ;  which  in  Hogarth's  print  is  supported 
upon  an  iron-hinged  bracket,  like  those  for  a  candle, 
and  arranged  to  move  aside  or  forward  at  pleasure. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        207 

These  oldest  forms  of  land  and  sea  glasses  differed 
from  some  of  more  recent  date,  in  the  way  the  sand 
was  introduced ;  for  while  in  the  latest  forms  of  them 
this  was  done  through  a  hole  in  the  top  or  one  end 
(both  parts  being  in  one  piece),  the  older  glasses  were 
made  in  two  pieces  connected  by  a  putty  joint  at  the 
waist,  with  a  small  thin  bit  of  card  or  metal  placed 
between  them,  having  a  hole  in  it  just  large  enough 
for  the  sand  to  run  through. 

As  shown  in  the  cut,  these  old  sea-glasses  were 
often  harnessed  with  small  line,  ending  in  an  eye  at 
top  and  bottom,  which  enabled  them  to  be  hung  to 
any  convenient  beam,  and  as  the  sand  in  them  was 
heavy,  there  was,  when  so  slung,  less  chance  of  the 
ship's  roll  interfering  with  the  steady  flow  of  it. 

Navigation  by  account,  or  dead -reckoning,  has 
changed  little  since  Kelly's  time.  Indeed,  the  intro- 
duction of  chronometers,  and  the  almost  perfect 
accuracy  of  observations  taken  with  the  modern 
sextant,  have  very  much  superseded  it,  except  in  the 
case  of  small  coasters,  etc.  But  in  Kelly's  day,  and 
for  years  afterwards,  the  log-line,  log-chip,  reel,  and 
half-minute  glass,  were  almost  a  mariner's  only  means 
of  estimating  his  longitude,  or  distance  sailed  east  or 
west.  Steam  and  patent  logs  have  much  simplified 
calculations  which  in  his  time  required  numberless 


208 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


corrections,  not  only  for  leeway,  etc.,  but  for  errors  in 
the   log-line   and   glasses;    and    Kelly   tells    us    that 
"  shortness   of  the  knots   in   a   line  are  on   the  safer! 
side,  that  a  ship  be  not  ahead  of  her  reckoning;    it' 
being  better  to  look  for  land  before  we  come  at   it, 
than  to  be  ashoar  before  we  expect  it." 

All  these  matters,  as  well  as  the  compass,  log-board, 
etc.,  were  in  the  old  ships  stowed  in  the  binnacle,  or, 


as  it  was  then  spelt,  "bittacle,"  which  was  an  affair 
about  the  size  of  a  corn-bin,  and  quite  unlike  the  brass 
pillar  or  stand  now  used  for  a  ship's  compass  and 
lamps. 

The  ordinary  form  of  compass,  with  its  card  and 
needle  pivoted  in  a  copper  bole  slung  on  gimbals,  is 
an  instrument  of  considerable  antiquity,  the  inventor 
of  it  being  unknown;  but  an  ingenious  method  of 
keeping  the  card  horizontal  without  gimbals  was  the 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


209 


use  of  a  heavy,  inverted,  cone-shaped  leaden  bole 
attached  to  the  lighter  copper  bole,  and  hung  upon  a 
pointed  brass  support  ;  the  compass-card  pivoting 
upon  a  point  rising 
from  the  centre  of 
this  leaden  arrange- 
ment below. 

This  sketch  is 
from  an  instrument 
now  in  the  possession 

Of  Mr.  Philip  Hedger,  Captain  Cook's  compass. 

of  Southampton,  and  is  interesting,  as  the  compass 
from  which  it  is  taken  formerly  belonged  to  that 
famous  navigator,  Captain  James  Cook,  and  was  pro- 
bably used  by  him  as  a  boat-compass  when  surveying 
and  taking  bearings  in  rough  weather ;  for  which, 
owing  to  its  weight  and  consequent  steadiness,  this  old 
instrument  would  be  well  suited. 

Though  our  old  shipmen  had  no  means  of  finding 
the  longitude  at  sea,  they  were  fairly  provided  with 
instruments  for  latitude.  And  our  master  -  mariner 
gives  full  directions  for  taking  meridian  altitudes  with 
a  cross-staff  and  the  "  sea-quadrant,"  known  also  as 
"  Davis's  quadrant,"  it  having  been  invented  by  that 
early  navigator  in  Elizabeth's  reign.  This  was  a 
much  larger  and  more  cumbersome  machine  than 


210 


OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


Hadley's  quadrant,  being  nearly  three  feet  in  length, 
with  two  distinct  arcs  of  differing  radius  upon  one 
frame;  this  instrument  was  also  known  as  the  " back- 
staff,"  from  the  position  of  the  observer  with  his  back 
to  the  sun  when  using  it,  and  long  after  it  ceased 
to  be  used  at  sea  it  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
little  wooden  midshipmen  ashore,  that  stood  outside 
the  doors  of  London  opticians. 


Figure  with  Davis' s  quadrant.  Cross-staff,  and  manner  of  using. 

The  cross-staff  or  fore-staff  was  a  still  older  and 
simpler  contrivance  for  measuring  angles  between  the 
fixed  stars,  or  the  sun  and  the  sea  horizon;  being 
merely  a  four-sided  straight  staff  of  hard  wood,  with 
four  cross-pieces  of  different  lengths,  made  to  slide 
upon  it  as  the  cross-piece  does  upon  a  shoemaker's 
rule.  These  cross-pieces  were  respectively  called  the 
ten,  thirty,  sixty,  and  ninety  cross ;  and  were  used 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        211 

upon  the  staff  according  to  the  altitude  of  the  sun 
or  stars  at  time  of  observation.  One  cross  only  was 
used  upon  the  staff  at  a  time ;  the  angle  measured 
being  shown  by  a  scale  of  degrees  and  minutes,  inter- 
sected by  the  cross-piece  on  that  side  of  the  staff  to 
which  it  (the  cross-piece)  belonged.  It  was  with  this 
simple  but  really  effective  instrument  that  Columbus, 
Drake,  and  other  early  navigators  took  their  meridian 
sights  for  latitude,  etc. 

A  fine  specimen  of  one  in  boxwood  and  ebony  is 
still  preserved  in  the  Naval  Museum,  Madrid,  which 
is  no  doubt  as  old  as  the  days  of  Columbus,  if  not 
indeed  the  very  instrument  that  first  crossed  the 
Atlantic  in  the  hands  of  that  seaman.  The  astrolabe, 
or,  as  Kelly  calls  it,  the  "  universal  ring-dial,"  was 
also  used  by  early  navigators  for  taking  altitudes  of 
the  sun,  this  instrument  being  more  convenient  than 
the  cross-staff  for  meridian  altitudes  near  the  line, 
when  the  sun  was  almost  vertical ;  while,  when  he 
was  near  the  horizon,  a  little  before  sunset  or  after 
sunrise,  a  form  of  small  quadrant,  called  an  "  alma- 
cantar-staff,"  was  used  to  find  his  azimuth  and  the 
variation  of  the  compass.  Among  the  ancient  mariners 
whose  voyages  did  not  extend  south  of  the  tropics, 
the  "  nocturnal"  gave  the  time  of  night  by  observing 
with  it  the  hands  of  the  great  star-clocks,  Ursa  Majo? 
and  Minor,  as  they  turned  about  the  pole-star. 


212 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


That  great-circle  sailing  was  not  altogether  un- 
known among  comparatively  early  navigators  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  some  of  them  actually  carried  large 
globes  to  sea  with  them,  upon  which,  as  far  back 
as  the  time  of  Sebastian  Cabot  and  Davis,  they 
marked  their  ocean  courses  and  distances,  or  corrected 
them  as  laid  down  upon  the  old  charts. 


u 


Ring-dial,  or  astrolabe.  The  nocturnal. 

The  following  copy  of  a  page  from  the  actual  log- 
book of  a  frigate,  acting  as  convoy  to  eight  merchant- 
men from  the  West  Indies  to  the  Downs,  in  1742, 
is  of  interest,  as  it  shows  exactly  how  a  day's  sailing 
and  the  results  were  recorded  in  a  man-of-war  nearly 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  back. 

The  old  frigate  and  her  convoy  were  then  twenty- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


213 


seven  days  out  from  "  Watling's  Key/'  from  which 
she  took  her  departure,  and  it  was  the  18th  of  May, 
or  thirty-five  days  later,  before  she  brought  up  in  the 
Downs. 


H.     K. 

F. 

~ 

C. 

W. 

Tuesday,  April  ye  13th,  1742. 

1 

2 

N.JE.    . 

E.N.E. 

Moderate  Gales  &  Cloudy. 

2 

2 

4 

N.BE. 

E.  BN. 

The  Sophie  Transport  Joyn'd 

3 

2 

— 

us. 

4 

2 

3 

5 

1 

5 

N.  B  E.  J  E. 

E.N.E. 

In    3rd 

E.B.T.  Sls.*       The 

6 

1 

4 

N.W.BN. 

Britain   Transp*   Made  je 

7 

2 

2 

N.E.  B  E. 

S.E.  B  E. 

Sign1  to   speak  us.     Bore 

8 

2 

- 

Down    to    her,   they   In- 

9 

2 

— 

formed  us  of  3  Soldiers  y* 

10 

2 

- 

E.N.E. 

S.E. 

mutined.       Brought    too, 

11 

3 

2 

hoisted   out   ye   yale    and 

12 

3 

3 

Brought  ye  3  Soldiers  on 

Brd. 

Made  Sail. 

1 

4 

_ 

N.E.  BE. 

S.E.  B  E. 

Small  Rain. 

2 

3 

5 

3 

2 

4 

N.E.BE.JE. 

Shorten'd  Saile  for  ye  con- 

4 

3 

- 

voy. 

5 

3 

2 

N.E.  BE. 

Find   ye   Ship   ahead   of   ye 

6 

4 

- 

E.N.E. 

S.E. 

Log. 

By      good      Obsvt 

7 

4 

2 

Lengthen'd   ye    Distce   23 

8 

4 

4 

miles. 

9 

3 

4 

E.  BN. 

S.E.BS. 

10 

4 

3 

E.N.E. 

I 

11 

5 

_ 

12 

4 

4 

8  Sail  in  sight. 

Course  Coited. 

Dist"0.         i  Latf  Obsn.        Long". 

Bearngs  &  Distance. 

N.N.K.JE. 

102  m.        41°  :  44  N.  31  :  53  Est 

Watlings  Key. 

Dep*  44  E. 

Merdn  Distce   525  Lgs  E.     &  58  E. 

S.57°:5W.640Ligs. 

32  :  51 

Abbrdviatioa  for  "  took  third  reef  in  bjth  topsails." 


214  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

In  this  log  the  first  column  marks  the  hour  of 
the  sea-day,  counted  from  noon  to  noon ;  in  the  second 
and  third,  the  numher  of  knots  and  fathoms  sailed 
are  noted  for  each  hour;  the  fourth  gives  the  course 
or  direction  sailed ;  and  the  fifth  that  of  the  wind ; 
the  space  beyond  heing  filled  in  with  remarks  upon 
the  weather,  events  on  board,  and  evolutions  of  the 
frigate  and  ships  under  her  convoy. 

The  spaces  at  the  foot  of  this  page  of  log  are 
occupied,  first,  by  the  summing  up  of  the  day's  courses 
into  one ;  then  conies  the  distance  or  easting  made 
in  the  twenty-four  hours,  the  latitude  by  observation, 
and  the  longitude  by  account  or  dead-reckoning ; 
while,  under  the  head  of  bearings  and  distance,  we 
have  the  number  of  leagues  which  Watling's  Key 
bore  west  and  south  of  the  old  frigate  at  noon,  on 
the  13th  of  April,  1742.  It  may  be  observed  that, 
as  Greenwich  time  had  thus  no  existence  on  ship- 
board, longitude  is  only  reckoned  by  this  old  sea- 
man as  his  distance  east  of  Watling's  Key,  which 
was  the  first  land  sighted  by  Columbus,  being  one 
of  the  most  easterly  points  of  the  Bahamas. 

In  those  days  all  the  courses  sailed  during  a  watch 
of  four  hours  wTere  marked  by  the  quartermaster, 
before  they  were  entered  upon  the  log-board  or  slate, 
upon  a  circular  disc  of  hard  wood,  known  as  a  traverse- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        215 

board,  which  may  still  be  found  in  the  binnacles  of 
some  Norwegian  or  Swedish  vessels.  Upon  this  disc 
the  points  of  the  compass  were  clearly  inscribed,  and 
in  the  line  of  each  point  there  were  eight  small  holes, 
like  those  in  a  cribbage-board,  while  the  board  had 
attached  to  it  eight  pegs,  one  of  which  was  placed 
in  the  hole  corresponding  to  the  course  sailed  every 
half-hour  of  the  watch. 


Ti  averse-board. 


21.6  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEK   XVI. 

THE    BLACK   X   LINEE. 

Security  of  the  Atlantic  passage  between  Bristol  and  New  York  150 
years  back — An  extinct  skipper  and  his  ship — A  popular  and 
lucky  captain — His  precautions  against  fire — Useful  passengers, 
mercenary  seamen,  and  ungrateful  owners — A  steerage  passage — 
Sleeping  and  cooking  arrangements,  etc. 

IN  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  of  August,  1735,  we 
read  that  "  the  vessels  employed  in  the  trade  between 
New  York  and  England  make  two  voyages  a  year, 
and  if  instead  of  going  to  London  they  go  to  Bristol, 
the  voyage  (i.e.  out  and  home)  is  performed  in  four 
months,  and  this  indeed  is  generally  the  case,  for 
Bristol  is  the  port  where  the  greatest  part  of  mer- 
chandize for  America  is  shipped.  This  voyage  is, 
besides,  attended  with  so  little  risk  that  insurance 
upon  it  is  no  more  than  two  per  cent."  Trade 
with  America,  as  it  is  to-day,  was  then  almost  entirely 
in  our  hands ;  but  fifty  years  ago,  and  for  some  years 
before  that,  the  following  advertisement  in  the  Times 
tells  us  that  the  "  Only  regular  line  of  packets  for 
New  York,"  from  London,  were  the  American  Black  X 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        217 

liners,  sailing  monthly,  and  "the  ship  now  loading,  is 
the  Gladiator,  Captain  Josia  Joshua  Champion,  lying 
in  St.  Katharine's  Docks ;  for  freight  or  passage,  apply 
to  Messrs.  P.  S.  &  T.,  or  to  the  captain  on  board." 

Seamen  fought  their  way  then,  across  the  North 
Atlantic,  mile  by  mile,  on  the  westward  or  uphill 
road,  as  it  was  called,  against  the  prevailing  westerly 
gales,  making  and  holding  on  to  some  thirty  or  forty 
miles  a  day,  when  the  wind  was  ahead,  with  little  or 
nothing  to  help  them  but  these  foul  winds  and  skilful 
use  of  them.  Ships  of  five,  or  even  three  hundred 
tons,  were  at  that  time  not  thought  too  small  for  this 
work ;  and  when,  in  1840,  to  meet  an  increasing  trade 
and  number  of  passengers,  vessels  of  eight  hundred 
tons  were  built,  they  were  spoken  of  as  large  unhandy 
ships.  But  in  her  four-hundred  ton,  or  best  day, 
with  her  fine  wedge-shaped  model,  and  practical  fit- 
out  of  short  lower  masts,  square  (i.e.  long)  yards,  big 
blocks,  and  grass-rope  running  rigging,  the  old  Black 
X  liner  compared  favourably  in  many  ways  with  our 
heavier-sparred  and  larger  Indiarnen,  as  tide  by  tide, 
and  tack  and  tack,  they  worked  their  way  from 
Gravesend  to  the  Downs  or  Spithead.  Externally 
the  New  York  built  packet  always  had  a  cross  of  the 
Dutchman  or  Swede  about  her — having  more  beam 
than  most  English  ships  of  the  same  length— while,  in 


218  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

place  of  a  row  of  painted  ports,  a  broad  band  of  well- 
scraped  and  varnished  yellow  pine  ran  fore  and  aft 
between  her  chain-plates  and  bends.  The  cut  and 
fit  of  her  canvas  was  also  very  Dutch. 

New  Jersey  was  at  one  time  a  Swedish  colony,  and 
it  is  noteworthy  that  the  smart  little  vessels  of 
Swedish  and  Norwegian  build  of  to-day  are  more 
like  the  New  York  built  ships  of  fifty  years  ago  than 
anything  now  afloat.  Old  Channel  pilots,  after  having 
been  in  charge  of  these  little  packets,  used  to  tell 
marvellous  tales  about  their  handiness,  and  how  they 
could  turn  them  to  windward  through  passages  like 
the  Gull  stream  on  their  way  to  the  Downs,  or  through 
the  Needles  channel,  as  easily  as  one  of  their  own  pilot- 
boats. 

People  who  had  no  idea  of  ever  crossing  the 
Atlantic,  liked  to  have  a  look  over  "  the  New  York 
packet ;  "  and  visitors  were  always  welcome.  Nothing 
so  smart  as  to  cabin  fittings  then  sailed  out  of  the  port 
of  London. 

A  clean-shaved,  hard-fisted  Yankee  mate  was  ready 
with  a  helping  hand  for  ladies  at  the  gangway;  and 
passing  into  the  round-house  on  deck,  some  steep 
brass-bound  stairs  led  you  into  the  main  cabin — 
saloons  were  seldom  spoken  of  then  on  board  ship. 
Here,  at  the  end  of  the  long  cabin-table,  was  Captain 


IN  TOE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


219 


220  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Champion  himself,  a  very  young-looking  man  for  one 
who  had  spent  twenty  years  of  his  life,  winter  and 
summer,  upon  the  North  Atlantic.  Near  him  were 
a  basket  of  American  crackers  and  a  large  bouquet 
of  English  flowers.  He  usually  had  an  unlighted 
cigar  in  his  mouth,  which  slowly  became  shorter  and 
shorter  as  he  rolled  it  about  between  his  teeth  when 
chatting  to  passengers.  A  black  steward  of  very 
polished  face  and  manner  was  also  in  attendance,  and 
ready  to  show  you  the  best  state-room,  with  its 
dainty  white  dimity  bed-curtains  and  cut-glass  door- 
handles, or  the  pretty  little  white-and-gold  lady's- 
cabin ;  everything  looking  bright  and  fresh,  and  so 
entirely  innocent  of  salt-water  or  sea-sickness,  as  to 
give  the  idea  that  it  had  all  been  fitted  up  for  this 
particular  voyage  only.  Nearly  every  berth  had  a 
name  pinned  upon  its  white  curtains,  and  to  a  lady's 
question  as  to  "  how  many  were  going  out  this 
voyage?"  the  black  steward  answers,  "De  ship  am 
full  up,  marm,  in  de  fust  cabum,  and  we  hab  to  fix  up 
two  genelmen  for  de  fust  in  de  second.  De  Gladiator, 
Captain  Champion,  am  nearly  always  full  up  for  New 
York  two  or  tree  days  arter  she  come  into  dock.  Guess 
de  Mediator  take  our  berth  to-morrow,  with  exactly 
same  commodious  accommodations  in  all  respects." 
Though  young-looking,  and  with  little  outward 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        221 

appearance  of  the  sailor  about  him,  Captain  Champion 
was  one  of  the  oldest  or  best-known  men  in  the  line ; 
and  he  liked  telling  how  a  timid  lady-passenger,  on 
being  referred  to  him  when  she  came  to  engage  a 
berth,  said  that  it  was  "  old  Captain  Champion  that 
she  wished  to  see  "  !  But,  according  to  the  captain 
himself,  it  was  hard  to  lay  out  a  hundred  dollars  more 
advantageously  than  in  securing  a  passage  to  New 
York  on  board  the  Gladiator. 

"  The  Atlantic  at  this  season  was  a  mill-pond,  and 

r 

the  wind  likely  to  hold  on  in  the  east  for  the  next  six 
weeks.  No  mistake  about  it,  it  was  just  yachting  on 
a  big  scale,  with  board  and  lodging  for  three  weeks 
or  a  month,  and  fed  like  fighting-cocks  all  the  while. 
Yes,  sir,  I  guess  if  I  hadn't  to  go  captain,  I'd  have 
taken  a'  passage  in  my  own  ship  for  pastime.  Why, 
sir,  on  a  longish  passage,  a  fellow  might  easy  save 
enough  to  buy  himself  a  nice  little  lot  out  West." 

The  easy  way  this  Yankee  skipper  disposed  of  all 
little  unpleasantnesses  connected  with  the  sea,  when 
on  board  his  own  ship  in  dock,  was  wonderful;  but 
when  two  young  fellows,  after  going  round  the  ship, 
said  something  about  being  able  to  sail  to  Australia 
for  nearly  the  same  money,  the  captain  politely  waved 
his  hand  toward  the  cabin-stairs  with,  "  Well,  gentle- 
men, I  guess  you  can  sail." 


222  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

It  was  necessary  to  make  a  voyage  to  New  York 

and  back  with  Captain  Champion  before  you  learned 

that  he  had  ever  known  rough  weather ;  and  even  then 

he  was  shy  of  mentioning  it.     He  did  not  believe  in 

hurricanes  or  cyclones,   and  when  he  heard  of  ships 

being    dismasted    in    them,    always    attributed    such 

disasters  to  rotten  rigging  or  spars.     He   had   never 

been  shipwrecked,  of  course,  though  he  had  once  had 

his   ship   driven,  with   two   anchors   down,  upon   the 

Mother-bank    from    Spithead — getting   off    next    tide. 

He  had  more  than  once  spent  a  fortnight  surrounded 

by  icebergs,  feeling  his  way  among  them  in  fog  and 

light    winds;    but,    though    his    mainyard    at    times 

nearly  grazed  them,  he  never  considered   his  ship  in 

any    danger.     Vessels   were    not    compelled    to    carry 

lights  then;    but,  for  his  own  satisfaction,  he  always 

had  a  bright  white  light   in  a  lantern  fitted  to   the 

bowsprit-cap,  "  which,  when  fellows  saw,  they  mostly 

'bout-ship,  taking  it  for  lighthouse  ashore." 

Fire  was  the  one  thing  the  captain  rather  dreaded ; 
and  at  sea,  according  to  him,  "  it  had  one  point  only 
in  its  favour  over  fire  ashore,  viz.  that  water  in  a 
general  way  was  plenty  and  handy.  But,"  added  the 
captain,  "  my  carpenter  is  a  smart  man,  and  spends 
a'raost  all  his  spare  time  after  leaving  port  between- 
decks  among  the  steerage  people.  And  no  mistake 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        223 

about  it,  the  yarns  he  spins  down  there  about  his 
escapes  from  ships  afire,  air  not  calculated  to  make 
them  careless  about  lights,  etc.  No,  sir,  I  never 
chanced  on  such  times  myself,  thank  the  Lord;  but 
as  in  a  general  way  old  Chips  is  the  only  survivor, 
feeding  on  his  own  boots  for  a  week  or  so,  it's  hard 
to  tell  if  they  ain't  all  Gospel  truth.  Anyhow,  them 
yarns  act  like  a  charm,  setting  all  the  wakefuller 
nervous  people  a-watching  the  other  fellows  like  cat 
and  mouse. " 

When  a  young  man,  the  captain  had  once  been 
pooped  in  running  too  long  before  a  heavy  gale,  when 
something  started  about  the  stern-post ;  but  "  he  was 
a  young  beginner  then,"  and  only  remembers  "  how 
his  owners  grumbled "  about  some  cargo  that  he 
jettisoned  in  order  to  lighten  his  ship  aft,  and  get  at 
the  leak,  or  keep  it  above  water.  He  was  loaded  with 
flour,  apples,  cheeses,  and  American  clocks ;  the  last- 
named  goods  unfortunately  being  the  first  they  could 
get  at.  In  consequence,  over  two  hundred  cases  of 
these  clocks  went  to  the  bottom  before  the  cheese- 
boxes  were  arrived  at.  They  followed  the  clocks,  and 
altogether  "he  reckon'd  he  lightened  his  ship  nearly 
a  hundred  tons  aft  in  twelve  hours;  "  some  steerage 
passengers  keeping  the  pumps  going  while  the  crew 
were  busy  handing  up  the  clocks  and  cheeses  aft. 


224  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WOKDS, 

"  No,  sir;  I  guess  I  didn't  have  to  coax  them 
passengers  any.  I  just  told  'em  they'd  got  to  pump 
or  drownd.  But  you'd  hardly  believe  me  when  I  tell 
you  that  every  one  of  those  sailor-men  that  worked 
in  my  hold  that  night  had  at  least  one  clock  and  a 
cheese  stowed  away  in  his  hunk  for'ard  when  we  got 
into  dock  in  London.  Yes,  sir,  '  human  natur  strong 
in  death,'  as  Shakespeare  says.  But  when  I  got  to 
home  again  in  New  York,  and  my  owners  asked,  '  How 
was  it,  Mr.  Champion,  that  it  did  not  occur  to  you 
to  select  something  of  less  value  than  them  time- 
pieces ? '  I  felt  pretty  small ;  and  only  said,  '  Well, 
gentlemen,  I  ray ther  wish  you'd  a-bin  there  yourselves, 
to  pick  and  choose  that  night.'  Yes,  sir,  that  riled 
me ;  especially  as  my  wife  was  with  me  that  voyage, 
and  her  own  private  piannyforty  was  one  of  the  fust 
articles  that  went  overboard.  Perhaps  some  of  them 
owners  would  just  as  soon  not  seen  anything  more 
of  me  or  my  ship  that  winter." 

These  Yankee  skippers  nearly  all  hailed  from  the 
small  State  of  Connecticut.  Most  of  them  left  farm- 
work  for  the  sea ;  and,  long  before  they  had  attained 
the  rank  of  captain,  a  good  proportion  of  them  were 
able  to  invest  some  small  savings  in  the  line  of  ships 
they  navigated. 

Steerage  and  even  second-class  passengers  are  apt 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        225 

to  growl  to-day  over  the  bad  accommodation  allotted 
to  them  on  board  a  modern  two-thousand-ton  steam- 
ship, and  even  write  grumbling  letters  to  the  Times, 
in  which  they  describe  discomforts,  etc.,  which  read 
like  the  height  of  comfort,  cleanliness,  and  luxury,  to 
any  one  old  enough  to  have  made  a  steerage  passage 


Steerage  cooking-galley. 

across  the  Atlantic  fifty  years  ago ;  when  a  steerage 
passenger's  fare  to  New  York  by  sailing-packet  was 
five  pounds,  and  find  yourself  in  everything  except  fire 
and  water;  of  which  last  element  something  called 
"  fresh  "  was  served  out  in  limited  quantities  by  the 
ship,  together  with  an  unlimited  allowance  of  salt 
water  above  and  below  in  rough  weather.  Steerage 


226  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

passengers  then  had  to  cook  their  own  victuals, 
weather  permitting,  at  an  open  galley-fire  on  the 
waist-deck;  which  was  lumbered  up  with  the  ship's 
long-boat,  surrounded  amidships  by  the  cowhouse, 
caboose,  for  cabin-cook,  sheep,  pig,  and  poultry  pens, 
with  spare  yards,  topmasts,  etc.,  on  either  side.  So 
that  of  this  deck  there  only  remained  two  narrow 
alley-ways,  which  were  nearly  always  reeking  with  the 
smell  and  drainage  of  this  closely  packed  central  farm- 
yard. With  a  dose  of  bilge-water  now  and  then  from 
the  pumps,  this  was  the  state  of  things  in  fine 
weather;  in  foul,  the  waist-deck  was  kept  sweeter, 
especially  when  a  ship  was  deep  laden,  by  the  constant 
wash  of  the  sea.  The  crew  were  housed  in  the  top- 
gallant-forecastle, the  doors  of  which  opened  upon  the 
steerage  promenade,  just  for'ard  of  the  windlass. 

But  in  anything  like  rough  weather,  all  steerage 
passengers  had  either  to  run  the  chance  of  getting 
constantly  wet  with  salt  water  or  keep  below.  The 
space  alloted  to  the  steerage  below  in  the  larger  class 
of  the  Black  X  liners  was  about  70  feet  long,  by  31  feet 
wide,  and  6  feet  high  under  the  deck-beams  ;  and  here, 
according  to  the  time  of  the  year,  were  packed  from 
a  hundred  to  three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children, 
most  of  them  being  hardy  German  peasants,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish.  Steerage- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         227 

stewards  were  not  thought  of  then,  and  the  whole 
arrangement  and  government  of  the  place  fell  upon  the 
ship's  carpenter,  whose  chief  business  seemed  to  be  to 
see  that  no  one  exceeded  his  or  her  proper  allowance  of 
water  and  fuel,  and,  as  Captain  Champion  has  told  us 
also,  that  the  ship  was  not  set  on  fire  by  men  smoking 
below,  etc. 

Sleeping  accommodation  was  of  the  rudest  kind,  put 
up  by  the  carpenter  and  his  mate,  according  to  the 
number  of  passengers,  a  few  days  before  sailing.  This 
was  done  by  dividing  the  'tween-decks  through  the 
entire  length  by  a  central  partition,  and  then  affixing 
to  it  on  either  side,  and  the  ship's  sides,  three  rows,  one 
above  the  other,  of  shelves  made  of  rough  unplaned 
boards,  -  each  shelf  being  six  feet  wide,  with  ledges 
dividing  it  into  three  sleeping-places.  The  passages 
left  between  these  rows  of  sleeping-shelves  were  very 
little  over  three  feet  wide ;  and  here  the  chests  and 
boxes  of  the  steerage  passengers,  besides  their  pro- 
visions for  the  voyage,  were  stowed,  so  that  it  was 
rare  to  find  standing-room  ;  while,  in  order  to  pass 
from  one  end  of  the  steerage  to  the  other,  it  was 
necessary  to  crawl  on  all-fours  above  this  lumber, 
between  it  and  the  deck-beams. 

A  few  of  the  larger  packets  of  the  line  had  port- 
holes here  and  there,  about  six  inches  in  diameter; 


228  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

but  these  only  admitted  light,  for,  being  almost  con- 
stantly washed  by  the  sea,  they  were  rarely  opened 
after  leaving  port.  Of  other  light  there  was  little,  and 
that  only  through  a  few  narrow  slips  of  glass  let  into 
the  deck  above,  or  from  a  dip-candle  hanging  here  and 
there  in  a  horn  lantern  from  the  deck-beams. 

Fresh  air  on  the  Atlantic  is  plentiful,  and  said  to  be 
pure  in  quality ;  but  the  quantity  of  it  allowed  to  find 
its  way  below  among  the  steerage  passengers  was  small, 
being  confined  entirely  to  that  which  was  able  to  pass 
down  the  two  rather  small  scuttles  or  hatches  at  either 
end  of  the  steerage;  the  larger  scuttle,  or  principal 
entrance,  being  in  the  main  hatch,  and  the  other  in  the 
fore.  A  wind-sail,  or  canvas  ventilator,  was,  weather 
permitting,  placed  in  one  or  both  these  openings,  but 
in  bad  weather  the  forward  one  was  always  closed,  if 
not  battened  down.  An  ordinary  steep  ship's  step-ladder, 
with  a  man-rope  to  hold  on  by,  was  the  only  means  of 
descent  or  ascent  into  or  out  of  this  gloomy  place ;  but 
a  tall  man  could,  standing  upon  the  main-deck  hatch 
below,  hand  a  child  up  to  the  deck-level  with  ease. 

As  the  passengers  found  their  own  provisions,  the 
only  arrangement  made  for  them  on  this  head  was  to 
make  sure  that  each  on  joining  the  ship  had  with  him 
his  proper  quantity  of  sea-biscuit,  flour,  potatoes,  tea, 
sugar,  and  treacle,  together  with  two  hams,  a  tin  pot, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        229 

frying-pan,  tin  mug,  and  teapot,  with  a  knife,  fork,  and 
iron  spoon ;  all  which  luxuries  were  supplied  to  the 
passengers,  generally  at  the  last  moment,  on  the  day 
of  sailing,  by  a  certain  ship-chandler  of  Wapping,  and 
were  all  duly  checked  and  weighed  by  the  carpenter 
or  mate  when  brought  on  board. 

The  Black  X  line  of  packet  carried  no  regular 
surgeon  or  doctor;  and,  unless  one  turned  up  by  chance 
among  the  passengers,  this  duty  in  the  steerage  fell 
upon  the  carpenter,  who  dispensed  all  medicines  re- 
quired by  this  class  of  passengers.  They  were  served 
out  to  him  from  the  ship's  medicine-chest  aft  by  the 
black  steward,  according  to  the  first  mate's  advice; 
an  old,  but  very  large  "  Dictionary  of  Domestic  Medi- 
cine "  being  consulted  in  doubtful  cases.  Generally 
speaking,  the  carpenter  was  also  the  ship's  dentist. 
But  in  spite  of  all  these  rule-of- thumb  arrangements, 
and  the  laws  of  sanitary  science,  the  steerage  passen- 
gers in  "  the  only  regular  line  of  packets  "  were  gene- 
rally healthy ;  and  in  the  course  of  many  voyages  in 
ships  of  this  class,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
birth-rate  usually  exceeded  the  death-rate.  What  is 
more,  I  don't  remember  that  there  was  more  grumbling 
among  the  steerage  passengers  than  there  was  in  the 
cabin,  though  both  classes  had  of  course  plenty  of  time 
allowed  them  for  it  on  the  voyage. 


230  OLD  SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WOKDS, 


CHAPTEK  XVII. 

FROM    THE    ST.    KATHARINE    DOCKS    TO    THE    DOWNS    FIFTY 
YEARS   AGO. 

Definition  of  a  packet — The  dock  quay  on  sailing  day — Those  who 
live  by  seeing  ships  out  of  dock — Temperance  ships — Christian 
knowledge  and  crime — Their  diffusion  and  emigration — Latter- 
day  Saint  and  ship-chandler — Sound  and  motion — "  Any  more  for 
the  shore  ?  " — Too  late — In  tow — Brought  up  in  the  Lower  Hope 
— A  very  quiet  night — Under  way  again — Topsails  versus  steam 
— The  pride  of  the  morning — Feeling  the  way  over  the  flats — 
A  freshening  breeze — Ready  about — To  windward  through  the 
Gull  Stream  into  the  Downs. 

I  HAVE  gone  much  into  detail  about  the  Black  X  liner, 
her  skipper,  etc.,  because  she  was  the  last  of  ocean- 
packets  as  distinguished  from  more  modern  passenger- 
vessels  built  with  a  view  to  the  combined  carriage  of 
cargo  and  passengers. 

It  is  true  that  the  earlier  paddle-wheel  Cunarder 
which  ran  these  sailing-packets  off  the  Atlantic,  as 
the  railway  did  mail-coaches,  was  a  packet ;  for  her 
cargo  consisted  almost  entirely  of  the  coal  burnt  in 
making  each  run.  But  as  the  screw  superseded 
paddles,  and  ships  rapidly  grew  larger,  ocean-steamers 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        231 

soon  ceased  to.,  be  merely  mail-packets ;  and  at  the 
present  time  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  single  line  of 
ocean-going  steamships  built  like  these  early  liners 
were,  with  the  model  of  a  yacht  or  despatch-boat,  and 
carrying  cargo  only  as  dead  weight  just  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  carry  their  canvas  in  good  sailing  trim. 
But  this  was  so  much  the  case  with  these  sharp- 
bottomed  little  packets  that  they  usually  left  London 
with  nothing  below  two  or  three  hundred  steerage,  and 
eighty  cabin  passengers,  but  a  few  hundred  tons  of 
chalk  ballast  and  a  full  supply  of  fresh  water  for  the 
passage,  which,  going  West,  at  times  extended  to  six 
or  eight  weeks. 

The  monthly  sailing  day  of  one  of  these  ships  was 
quite  an  event  then  in  the  St.  Katharine  Docks,  where 
stood  huddled  together  on  the  quay,  first,  a  swarm  of 
steerage  passengers,  or,  as  we  should  now  call  them, 
emigrants,  with  their  worldly  goods  round  them, 
besides  bedding  and  provisions  for  the  voyage.  Then 
there  were  of  course  a  number  of  those  people  who 
always  have,  or  think  they  have,  an  interest  in  every 
outward-bound  ship  and  her  passengers,  among  them 
many  tearful  women,  some,  perhaps,  wives  of  men 
going  out  alone  to  try  and  start  a  home  for  them  in 
the  West ;  other  women,  too,  stood  about  quite  as 
tearful,  and  more  noisy,  though  only  parting  for  a  few 


232  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND    WORDS, 

months  from  some  of  the  crew  of  the  ship.  Among 
these  were  men  and  women  selling  oranges,  nuts,  and 
other  cheap  fruit,  and,  as  the  Black  X  line  of  packets 
were  temperance  ships,  a  hottle  or  two  of  rum  con- 
cealed under  the  fruit  for  the  crew. 

Then  there  were  people  bent  upon  diffusing  the 
largest  amount  of  Christian  knowledge  in  the  shortest 
possible  time  by  distributing  tracts  to  distracted  men 
and  women,  who  often  asked  in  return  for  news  of  some 
missing  bag  or  box.  Besides  these,  there  were  always 
one  or  more  detectives,  quietly  working  like  spaniels 
in  cover  among  the  crowd,  with  the  object  of  nipping 
some  Christian  criminal  or  crime  in  the  bud,  before  it 
succeeded  in  planting  itself  in  other  lands — a  matter 
much  easier  done  then,  before  the  Atlantic  cable  was 
laid.  Often  too,  just  as  the  ship  was  on  the  point 
of  being  unmoored,  a  Latter-day  Saint  would  rush 
frantically  on  board  and  insist  on  interviewing  the 
captain,  in  order  to  persuade  him  to  alter  his  sailing 
day;  that  so  the  end  of  all  things,  according  to  him 
now  several  days  overdue,  might  not  overtake  the 
ship,  passengers,  and  crew  in  the  chops  of  the  Channel. 
Not  one  of  these,  however,  got  a  tenth  part  of  the 
attention,  or  had  a  chance  of  a  hearing  against  the 
stout  ship-chandler  of  Wapping,  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter,  who  was  now  busy  mustering  the  emigrants, 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         233 

to  see  that  none  left  the  docks  without  his  or  her 
proper  allowance  of  sea-stores.  The  Claimant,  Sir 
Koger,  hailed  from  Wapping,  but  the  brain-power  of 
even  that  remarkable  man  would,  I  think,  have  proved 
unequal  to  the  rapid  organization,  command  of  temper, 
low  Dutch  and  German,  shown  by  this  rnan  as,  helped 
by  the  ship's  carpenter,  he  handled  that  mixed  gaog  of 
steerage  passengers  as  easily  as  an  old  Sunday-school 
teacher  would  a  troop  of  unruly  children ;  his  rapid 
patter  of  Wapping-English,  German,  and  Dutch,  acting 
like  magic  in  settling  all  disputes  between  them  and 
those  about  them. 

Ducks,  geese,  and  poultry  in  general  always  sym- 
pathize with  excitement  near  them,  while  pigs,  and 
even  sheep,  thrown  together  for  the  first  time,  have  a 
noisy  way  of  their  own.  While  at  intervals,  even  the 
old  sea-cow  bemoans  her  lot  in  life.  But  all  such 
home-like  noises  are  now  almost  lost  in  the  rapid  click, 
click,  click  of  a  capstan,  and  regular  tramp  round  and 
song  of  the  red-shirted  sailors  as  they  reel  in  the  warp 
by  which  slowly,  but  very  surely,  the  ship  is  hauling 
out  of  dock.  Yankee  seamen  (almost  an  extinct  race 
now)  were  then  noted  for  their  capstan  chants,  and 
the  chorus  of  "  Good  morning,  ladies  all,"  swells 
quaintly  up  at  intervals  above  the  other  sounds. 

A  fussy  little  tug,  with  much  steam  roaring  out  of 


234  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND    WORDS, 

her  in  one  place,  and  rattling  out  in  another,  adds  not 
a  little  to  the  difficulty  the  ship's  mate  has  in  making 
the  pilot  and  dock-master's  orders  heard  by  his  crew — 
commands  which  were  never  given  directly  to  the  men, 
hut  were,  so  to  say,  boiled  down,  concentrated,  and 
strengthened  before  being  poured  out  through  the 
Yankee  mate's  speaking-trumpet  on  them. 

The  dock-master,  for  instance,  would  say,  "  That'll 
do,  Mr.  Storks,  with  our  head-line ;  if  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  shift  your  starn-line  to  your  port-quarter, 
and  get  a  small  pull  upon  it."  Which,  through  the 
mate's  trumpet,  comes  to  the  crew  as  "  Vast  'eaving 
there  for'ard ;  lay  aft,  som'  of  ye,  an'  tail  on  to  that 
quarter-line.  Lay  aft !  G— d  d — n  ye,  lay  aft  there  ! 
Jump  out  quick,  one  of  ye,  and  take  it  clear  of  the 
main-brace.  In  with  it !  smart  now  !  run  away  with  it, 
boys.  Hurrah  !  hurrah  !  boys  !  there  she  slews."  And 
as  a  great  increase  of  noise  almost  invariably  precedes 
the  end  of  a  fine  piece  of  music,  so  the  climax  of  uproar 
was  always  reached  when  the  ship  arrived  at  and 
stopped  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  lock,  or  river  entrance, 
of  the  dock.  Here  the  ship's  big  bell  rings  impatiently 
as  the  Yankee  mate  roars  out  again  and  again,  "  Any- 
more-for-the-shore  !  Any  one  for  shore  !  !  " 

There  always  is  one  more  for  the  shore,  and  some 
time  after  the  Latter-day  Saint  and  stout  ship-chandler 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        235 

have  risked  their  lives  in  a  tight  embrace  as  they  meet 
upon  the  tilting  end  of  a  gang-board,  there  comes  from 
the  crowded  ship's  deck  a  shrill  cry  from  an  Irishwoman 
of  "  Sure,  an'  it's  myself  am  for  the  shore,  yer  honour. 
An'  sure,  I  belaved  it  was  the  ship  was  the  quay,  an' 
the  quay  was  the  ship,  win  yer  honour  spake,  an'  now 
it's  the  quay's  gone  without  me,  an'  it's  myself  that's 
lift  behind  in  the  ship  altogither  with  my  husband !  " 

But  the  tug  ceases  to  blow  off  steam,  and  the  flap, 
flap  of  her  paddles,  with  a  quiet  "port !  "  "  starboard !  " 
or  "  steady  !  "  from  a  Thames  pilot,  as  the  ship  follows 
the  tug  through  crowded  pool,  tells  that  the  voyage 
has  begun. 

From  the  docks  to  Gravesend  in  tow  of  the  tug 
was  in  those  days  a  very  stately  procession,  with  an 
ever-increasing  string  of  watermen's  skiffs,  etc.,  astern  of 
the  ship,  which  fully  occupied  the  afternoon  of  sailing 
day,  and  gave  time  for  most  of  the  emigrants  to  tumble 
themselves,  baggage,  bedding,  and  sea-stores,  down 
the  main-hatch  into  the  steerage  below.  And  as  Long 
Eeach  opens  out,  sailors,  armed  with  short  iron  hooks, 
drag  length  after  length  of  chain  cable  aft  along  the 
decks,  and  lay  it  fair  in  fakes  ready  for  running  out. 
The  string  of  boats  astern  steadily  grows  shorter,  until 
on  passing  old  Tilbury  Fort  one  only  is  left,  into  which, 
as  it  hauls  up  alongside,  the  Thames  pilot  and  Irish- 


236 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 


IX  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


237 


woman  scramble  together  down  a  rope-ladder,  and  leave 
the  ship  for  Gravesend;  just  below  which  place,  in 
the  Lower  Hope,  the  tug  slackens  speed,  the  tow-line 
is  cast  off  and  hauled  in,  and  as  the  ship  loses  way 
some  one  shouts,  "  All  clear  there  for'ard  ?  "  answered 
by  "  Ay,  ay,  sir,  all  clear;  "  and  at  the  words,  "  Let 
go  !  "  the  anchor  falls  from  the  cat-head,  and  the  ship, 
trembling  from  end  to  end  as  fathom  after  fathom  of 


Light  colliers  dropping  down  with  last  of  ebb. 


chain  runs  out,  swings  head  to  tide  for  the  night.  The 
tug  also  brings  up  close  by  on  the  Kentish  shore,  and 
at  once  fills  the  quiet  evening  sky  with  clouds  of 
upstart  noisy  steam,  as  she  blows  off  and  banks  up 
fires  with  a  view  to  another  job  at  daybreak. 

After  sundown,  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Thames 
were  then  wonderfully  quiet.  A  light  collier  or  two 
slowly  driving  down  with  the  last  of  the  ebb,  telling 


238  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND    WORDS, 

very  black  across  the  twilight,  take  nothing  from  the 
stillness ;  and  the  bark  of  a  dog  on  board  one  as  she 
glides  past  the  ship,  answered  by  another  far-off  yard- 
dog  ashore,  is  almost  startling  in  effect.  Quiet,  also, 
so  far  as  the  upper  deck  is  concerned,  prevails  on  board 
the  packet,  broken  only  now  and  then  by  the  cackle  of 
a  restless  old  gander,  or  a  discontented  squeal  among 
the  pigs,  as  they  pack  themselves  away  for  night. 
Of  cabin  passengers  there  are  as  yet  few  on  board ; 
most  of  these  choosing  to  travel  by  coach  or  post- 
chaise,  and  join  the  ship  on  her  arrival  at  Portsmouth. 
And  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  second-cabin 
passengers,  and  a  German  here  and  there  smoking  his 
pipe  on  deck,  there  is  little  more  than  the  red  glimmer 
of  a  deck-light  in  places  to  mark  that  whole  families 
of  emigrants  of  many  countries  are  under  that  three 
inches  of  pine  deck,  like  the  pigs  and  sheep  in  the  long- 
boat, making  such  arrangements  as  they  can  for  a 
night's  rest.  In  the  main  cabin,  even  the  tick  of  the 
old  Channel  pilot's  big  watch  can  be  heard,  as  well  as 
his  snore,  from  an  adjoining  state-room.  Some  time, 
however,  before  daylight,  tramping  overhead  and  a 
noise  of  heavy  objects  falling  in  all  directions  on  deck 
tell  that  the  pilot  has  turned  out,  and  with  a  fair  wind 
out  of  the  river  is  getting  the  anchor,  and  making  sail 
on  the  ship.  London  tugs  of  those  days  were  feeble 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         239 

things  compared  to  the  fine  powerful  tug  of  to-day, 
which  cruises  in  search  of  ships  far  down  Channel 
below  the  Isle  of  Wight.  And,  though  doing  her  best, 
the  little  tug  barely  held  her  own  with  the  Black  X 
liner,  as  under  a  fore  course  and  two  great  topsails  now 
sheeted  home  she  moved  fast  before  a  fresh  morning 
breeze  through  the  greenish-grey  water  of  sea  reach. 
And  the  pilot's  attention  is  divided  between  the  tug's 
captain,  the  man  at  the  wheel,  and  a  hot  cup  of  coffee 
on  the  quarter-deck  capstan-head. 

It  was  an  ill  wind  indeed  (unless  it  were  an  Irish- 
man's hurricane)  which  blew  a  steam-tug  any  good 
below  the  Nore  in  those  days.  Nevertheless,  as  she 
paddles  up  alongside  the  ship,  there  comes  a  shout 
from  the  tug's  captain  standing  on  her  paddle-box,  with 
a  hand  on  either  side  his  mouth,  of  "  Better  make  sure, 
sir !  We'll  give  you  a  good  hextra  hour's  tide  while 
you  gets  the  canvas  on  to  her!"  "  Hour's  tide! 
Why,  you  couldn't  keep  a  taut  hawser  on  us  a  minute 
with  this  breeze."  And,  turning  to  the  mate,  the  pilot 
says,  "  Have  the  goodness,  Mr.  Storks,  to  look  sharp 
with  them  topgallant-yards."  "Ay,  ay,  sir!  Fore- 
topgallan'-yard — ahoy!  Gone  to  sleep  there  ?  Look 
alive,  and  lay  down  on  deck  !  Now,  then,  hoist  away  ! 
rouse  'em  up,  boys,  smart !  "  And  as  each  bellying 
sail  is  sheeted  home,  and  yard  after  yard  rises  aloft, 


240  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

the  ship  rapidly  forereaches  on  the  tug,  until  her  cap- 
tain, with  a  last  appeal  of  "It's  only  the  pride  of  the 
morning,"  and  a  wave  of  his  hand,  turns  her  head  up 
river,  leaving,  as  she  goes,  a  curving  trail  of  brown 
smoke  behind.  And  when  the  last  curl  of  it  blows 
clear  of  the  packet's  white  canvas,  the  old  pilot,  sip- 
ping his  coffee,  says  contentedly  to  the  mate,  "  Done 
with  him,  Mr.  Storks."  "  Ay,  ay,  sir — done  with  the 
steam,  thank  the  Lord." 

The  low  lines  of  shore  on  either  side  now  quickly 
recede  ;  and  the  orange-red  Nore  lightship  is  the  only 
bit  of  positive  colour  upon  a  cold  expanse  of  grey  sky 
and  water  speckled  with  buoys  and  beacons  of  strange 
form  and  stranger  names,  all  of  which  are  a  continued 
source  of  apparently  artistic  study  to  the  pilot  as  he 
stands  with  upheld  hand  over  the  compass,  taking  the 
bearings  of  them.  "  I  never  omit,  sir,"  he  says  to  the 
mate,  "  taking  as  many  bearings  as  I  can  on  a  fine 
morning  like  this,  and  they  comes  handy  when  I  chance 
to  pop  on  one  of  them  buoys  in  thick  weather  or  night- 
times." 

A  leadsman  is  now  always  in  the  chains  with  his 
long-drawn  chant  as  the  ship  threads  her  way  among 
the  sandy  banks,  bars,  and  narrow  channels  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Thames,  But  soon  after  sighting  the  double 
tower  of  old  Eeculver  Church  the  water  deepens,  and 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


241 


beyond  Margate  and  the  shelter  of  the  Foreland,  the 
little  packet  begins  to  roll  in  the  short  tidal  sea ;  while, 


Heaving  the  lead. 

the   wind   drawing  more   abeam,  the   crew   are   busy 
bracing  the  yards  to  it  until,  as  she  feels  its  strength, 


242  OLD  SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

she  heels  over  to  the  breeze,  and  heads  the  sea  with 
the  long  easy  plunge  of  a  great  schooner  yacht.  A  few 
hours  of  such  sailing  would  soon  have  brought  her 
nearer  old  Amsterdam  than  New  York ;  and  before 
noon,  as  the  wind  freshens,  the  fore-royal  and  flying- 
jib  are  taken  in.  Soon  after  which  a  quiet  "  Keady 
about''  from  the  pilot  causes  quite  a  bustle  among  the 
watch  on  deck.  Coils  of  rope  are  flung  down  in  all 
directions  ready  for  running;  and  nearly  every  pas- 
senger at  once  finds  that  the  snug  corner  chosen  by 
him  has  some  rope,  block,  tack,  or  sheet  near  it,  about 
which  small  groups  of  sailors  gather,  evidently  waiting 
an  important  command.  Very  soon  "All  ready  for- 
ward/' from  the  pilot,  answered  by  "Ay,  ay,  sir!" 
from  a  mate,  is  followed  by  "  Put  your  helm  down!  " 
And  at  the  words  "  Helm's  a-lee !  raise  tacks  an' 
sheets,"  the  whole  mass  of  canvas,  ropes,  and  blocks, 
which  a  moment  before  stood  as  steady  as  though 
carved  in  wood,  is  banging,  flapping,  and  rattling  among 
the  spars  and  rigging  as  the  ship  comes  upright  and 
head  to  wind ;  the  men  at  the  same  time  singing  out, 
as  they  haul  in  and  overhaul  tacks  and  sheets,  add  to 
the  noise ;  but  now,  clear  and  loud  above  their  voices, 
rings  out  from  the  mate,  "  Mainsail-haul !"  And  as 
the  long  yards,  almost  with  a  jerk,  swing  round,  gangs 
of  sailors  run  along  the  deck,  gathering  in  the  slack  of 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        243 

braces,  etc.  A  few  seconds  of  quiet  follow  as  the  ship 
turns  from  the  wind  and  her  after  canvas  slowly  fills 
again,  while  her  head-sails  lie  quietly,  nearly  aback 
against  the  foremast.  Then  comes  another  shout  of 
"  Let  go,  and  haul !  "  And  as  the  men  run  affc  with 
the  fore-braces  the  foreyards  swing  round,  and  the 
ship's  head  is  toward  the  Kentish  shore.  "  Steady 
your  helm  !  Keep  her  full !  "  And  after  trimming  the 
yards  to  the  wind,  and  coiling  down  ropes  ready  for  the 
next  tack,  the  men  obey  the  welcome  order  from  the 
pilot  of  "  Go  below  the  watch,  and  let  the  people  get 
their  dinner,  Mr.  Storks." 

Later  in  the  day  the  wind  steadily  freshens,  and 
more  upper  canvas  is  taken  in  until,  tack  after  tack 
following  one  another  in  rapid  succession,  as  a  man  in 
the  chains  feels  the  way,  the  little  packet  nutters  her 
way  against  the  strong  wind  through  the  Gull  Stream 
into  the  Downs. 


244  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

THE    PILOT. 

A  Channel  letter-box — A  man  found  at  sea — Pleasant  flavour  of  the 
land  about  him — The  pilot's  hat — Sad  Old-World  prejudices  of 
a  through-and-out  Trinity  pilot — A  pilot's  fare  and  lot  not  all 
cakes  and  ale — Aversion  of  pilot  to  long  walks  and  short  naps 
— Blind  faith  of  passengers  in  him — The  pilot  as  a  man  of  busi- 
ness on  the  Stock  Exchange,  etc. — Examiners  examined — Weak- 
ness and  mannerism  of  elderly  pilots — Foreign  pilots — A  French 
and  Yankee  one — Modern  pilot's  risks  and  work — The  old  rule 
of  the  road  at  sea — Pleasures  of  the  starboard  tack — Sailing  in 
convoy,  etc. 

IN  the  days  of  East  Indiamen  and  sailing-packets,  when 
a  Channel  pilot  dropped  into  his  dinghy  alongside,  or 
in  rough  weather  swung  himself  from  the  mainyard- 
arm  of  an  outward-bound  ship,  down  upon  his  cutter's 
deck,  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  last  link,  maybe  for 
months,  between  ship  and  land ;  and  the  big  breast- 
pocket of  his  oilskin  coat  was  the  latest  letter-box  in 
which  to  post  farewell  letters.'  The  electric  wire  and 
steam  have  greatly  changed,  not  only  the  character  of 
the  pilot  himself,  but  his  value  as  a  post-office,  and  his 
pockets  are  now  mostly  full  of  sixpenny  telegrams,  in 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        245 

place  of  being  crammed  with  those  long,  old-fashioned, 
parting  letters,  so  easy  to  write  when  a  voyage  from 
London  to  Spithead  or  Plymouth  rarely  occupied  less 
than  a  week  or  ten  days.  Still,  one  often  notes,  even 
to-day,  as  some  great  ship  leaves  the  dock,  or  a  tender 
steams  away  from  her  in  the  river,  those  well-known 
-words  of  wife  or  mother,  to  a  husband  or  son,  of  "  Now, 
mind  and  write  by  the  pilot !  " 

In  "  Two  Years  before  the  Mast,"  Dana  has 
described  the  sadness  and  void  that  falls  upon  a  ship's 
crew,  after  being  long  at  sea,  upon  the  loss  of  a  mess- 
mate overboard.*  According  to  my  experience,  a  strange 
feeling,  not  quite  akin,  but  rather  the  complement  to 
this,  comes  over  a  ship's  company  on  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  man  who  boards  a  ship  towards  the  end  of 
a  long  voyage — the  pilot.  The  captain,  perhaps,  may 
have  seen  him  before,  or  may  even  be  upon  sufficiently 
intimate  terms  to  ask  after  the  health  of  his  missus 
and  family ;  but  to  all  the  rest  on  board  he  is  a 
stranger,  the  one  face  and  figure  among  us  with  any 
novelty  about  it ;  and  his  presence  is  almost  harder  to 
get  over  for  some  time  than  the  vacant  place  of  the 

*  Samuel  Rogers  was  so  struck  with  this  passage  in  Dana's 
delightful  book  that  he  had  the  whole  of  it  by  heart,  and  loved  to 
repeat  it,  always  dwelling  upon  certain  parts,  which  he  said  "  were 
to  him  among  the  most  pathetically  touching  bits  of  prose  or  poetry 

our  language." 


246       OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

man  lost  at  sea.  When  he  speaks,  to  give  his  firsfc 
order,  his  voice  sounds  like  that  of  some  one  from 
another  world.  We  watch  him  furtively,  and  every 
article  of  his  rig-out  has  a  strange  interest  about  it. 
Of  course  the  captain  and  some  of  the  first-cabin  people 
soon  get  from  him  the  latest  news,  or  the  papers  he 
may  have  brought  with  him  from  the  still  distant  port ; 
but  the  humbler  members  of  our  company  have  to  rest 
content  with  any  scraps  of  his  talk  with  the  captain 
they  may  chance  to  overhear,  and  these  chiefly  relate 
to  the  weather  or  other  ships  and  their  doings.  But 
though  picked  up  at  sea,  in  the  chops  of  the  Channel, 
there  is  a  certain  flavour  of  the  land  about  a  pilot,  and 
the  look  of  a  man  who  has  quite  recently  eaten  good 
fresh  beef  and  spring  onions.  At  any  rate,  his  is  the 
only  shore-going  hat  in  sight ;  and  though,  like  all 
pilots'  hats,  it  has  a  character  of  its  own — the  brim 
running  in  a  parallel  line  round  his  face  like  a  sea- 
horizon — still  there  it  is,  a  regular  shore-going  bell- 
topper.  Then  there  is  his  broad  black-satin  waistcoat, 
with  a  big  silver  timepiece  stowed  away  in  it  —the  one 
watch  actually  keeping  shore-time  in  the  ship;  while, 
though  the  weather  may  have  been  rather  hot  and 
calm  of  late,  the  new-arrival  wears  a  heavy  over- 
coat, oilskin  trousers,  and  a  thick  woollen  comforter 
about  his  neck,  in  which  he  looks  very  much  as 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        247 

though  he  had  spent  the  previous  night  outside  a  mail- 
coach. 

Indeed,  it  is  likely  enough  that  he  did ;  for  in  the 
days  I  write  of,  a  " through-and-out  pilot"  was  almost 
as  well  known  upon  certain  old  post-roads  as  in  the 
wider  roadsteads  of  the  Downs  and  Spithead. 

Though  a  pilot  sometimes  remained  over  a  week 
in  one  ship,  he  seldom  became  really  at  home  in  her 
from  the  day  he  mounted  her  side  until  he  and  his 
black-painted  canvas  bag  vanished  mysteriously,  becom- 
ing absorbed  among  a  crowd  of  other  arrivals  from  the 
shore  as  the  ship  hauled  into  dock. 

In  large  vessels  the  pilot  mostly  dined  alone,  having 
something  that  had  been  kept  hot  for  him  served  in 
a  remote  corner  of  the  cabin  ;  while  many  of  his  earlier 
or  later  meals  were  taken  seated  upon  a  deck-stool, 
the  top  of  a  skylight,  or  some  upturned  boat,  serving 
him  for  a  table. 

Years  ago  many  ships,  especially  Yankee  ones,  were 
sailed  upon  what  were  called  strictly  temperance  prin- 
ciples; but  "  our  pilot"  has  been  a  master's  mate  in 
the  Royal  Navy  of  William  IV.'s  time,  and  though, 
as  he  says,  "  no  doubt  water  is  a  great  blessing,  and 
a  thing  we  ought  to  be  werry  thankful  for,"  yet  for 
the  life  of  him  "he  never  could  stand  it  stark  naked." 
So  that,  "  even  in  the  strictest  of  teetotal  wessels,  he 


248  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

feels  it  a  dooty  towards  his  country,  himself,  and  a 
licensed  Trinity  pilot,  to  ask  for  and  be  served  with 
a  glass  of  grog,  hot  or  cold,  as  required,  and  when 
wanted,  at  any  hour  during  the  middle  watch."  On 
board  large  passenger- vessels  a  pilot  of  course  always 
fared  well ;  while  in  his  own  cutter,  he  suited  his  taste 
and  victualled  his  boat  at  a  home  port.  This  was  not 
always  his  lot,  however,  when,  after  knocking  about 
outside  the  Wight  for  a  day  or  two,  he  fell  in  with  and 
boarded  some  small  inward-bound  merchantman,  espe- 
cially if  she  hailed  from  a  French  or  Norwegian  port. 
And  the  appetite  of  the  most  experienced  of  Channel 
pilots  has  been  known  to  fail  him  when,  on  peeping 
into  the  galley  of  such  a  craft,  he  discovered  her  chef 
busy  preparing  some  stewed  cuttle-fish,  or,  as  the  pilot 
called  it,  "  squid,"  for  the  cabin  dejeuner.  Then,  again, 
on  board  Norwegian,  Italian,  or  Spanish  ships,  pilots 
often  complained  of  the  strong  flavour  and  liberal  use 
of  train  and  other  oils  in  their  frying-pans,  or  the 
amount  of  garlic  in  a  ragout  of  salt  fish  and  beans. 
But  these  small  discomforts  of  a  pilot's  life  on  board 
foreign  ships  were  often  greatly  counterbalanced  by 
the  quantity,  and  sometimes  quality,  of  the  wines  or 
other  liquors  served  in  the  captain's  cabin ;  and  an  old 
pilot,  speaking  of  his  fare  on  board  a  Spaniard,  wound 
up  his  yarn  almost  in  the  words  of  Mrs.  Gamp,  "  But 
the  drinks  was  all  good." 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


249 


From  the  moment  the  pilot  stepped  on  hoard  a 
ship,  the  captain  and  his  nautical  instruments  were 
superseded.  The  navigation  of  the  ship  was  now 
carried  on  by  the  stranger — his  hig  silver  watch  and 
the  palm  of  his  right  hand  frequently  extended  before 
him  over  the  binnacle  compass,  in  the  line  of  distant, 
misty-looking  headlands  by  day,  or  glimmering  lights 
at  night.  As  to  charts,  etc.,  the  pilot's  head  is  not 
only  a  regular  tide-table,  but  full  of  bearings,  lights, 
and  buoys,  from  Gravesend  to  Plymouth. 

Even  the  tread  of  a  pilot  as  he  paces  the  deck  on 
cold  nights  distinguishes  him  from  other  officers  of 
the  ship,  for,  being  long  used  to  the  short  deck  of  his 
cutter,  he  rarely  takes  more  than  three  steps  in  any 
direction  without  a  turn,  and  finds  plenty  of  room  for 
his  short  promenade  athwart-ship  between  the  binnacle 
and  the  wheel.  His  watches  below,  or  times  of  rest, 
are  most  irregular,  and  are  seldom  taken  unless  the 
ship  is  brought  up  in  a  calm  to  wait  the  turn  of  a  tide. 
But  when  he  does  turn  in,  either  on  board  his  own 
boat  or  elsewhere,  he  is,  as  he  says,  "  rather  apt  to 
sleep  twice  round  the  clock."  This  power  of  the  pilot 
of  storing  long  spells  of  sleep  is  not  always  shared  by 
other  seafaring  men,  some  of  whom  complain  that, 
after  keeping  "  watch  and  watch  "  of  four  hours  at  a 
time  for  months  at  sea,  they  find  it  hard  work  to  stop 


250  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

in  bed  ashore  after  eight  hells ;  or  not  to  turn  out  and 
keep  the  morning  watch  elsewhere. 

To  passengers,  after  a  voyage  of  some  months,  the 
sight  of  the  pilot-boat  is  like  the  arrival  of  a  doctor's 
carriage  at  some  lone  country  house  where  there  is  a 
bad  illness.  Much  is  expected  of  both  men.  However 
heavy,  thick,  or  calm,  the  weather  may  have  been,  the 
narrow  circle  of  a  pilot's  hat  is  believed  to  compass 
power  and  knowledge  that  may  still  the  storm,  pene- 
trate the  fog,  or  cause  a  breeze  to  blow.  As  he  takes 
his  first  quick  turns  across  the  deck,  looking  aloft  at 
the  helpless  sails  as  they  fall  to  and  fro  with  the  roll 
of  the  ship,  a  cheery  rub  of  his  hands  is  regarded  as 
something  that  should  bring  a  fair  wind  to  help  the 
ship  into  port.  Each  time  he  orders  a  pull  upon  a 
brace  here,  or  clew-line  there,  the  manoeuvre  is  watched 
with  deep  interest ;  and  when,  other  means  having 
failed,  he  asks  the  mate,  in  a  low,  confidential  tone, 
"  to  get  a  cast  of  the  deep-sea  lead,"  passengers  watch 
him,  and  the  result,  as  people  do  the  doctor  when, 
watch  in  hand,  he  counts  a  patient's  pulse.  As  was 
said  before,  steam  has  much  changed  the  manners  and 
customs  of  pilots,  but  there  is  still  about  them  some- 
thing of  the  old  style ;  for  the  business  and  good  will 
often  descends,  as  it  does  among  fishermen,  from  father 
to  son ;  though,  unlike  fishermen,  retired  pilots  are 


IN  THE  BAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        251 

seldom  badly  off;  they  are  indeed  among  the  few  men 
of  the  sea  who  are  able  to  keep  their  wits  about  them 
on  land.  And  long  after  he  has  left  the  helm  of  No. 
2  C  in  the  hands  of  his  boys,  our  Channel  pilot  is  busy 
dabbling  in  shares  in  the  ketch  Slippery,  small  house 
property,  or  even  in  Turkish,  or  "  Kooshun "  bonds, 
maybe. 

The  examination  of  a  pilot,  especially  a  local  one, 
must  be  a  delicate  matter ;  for  his  knowledge  is  just 
of  that  proof-of-the-pudding  kind  not  easily  tested  by 
a  board  of  examiners.  And  one  of  the  oldest  and  best 
of  local  pilots  belonging  to  a  large  southern  port  used 
to  tell  how  he  was  " let  down  easy  like"  at  his  first 
and  only  examination  by  certain  port  authorities ;  his 
examiners  finding,  after  a  question  or  two,  that  he 
was  fast  changing  places  with  them,  though  of  book- 
learning  he  knew  little  beyond  being  able  to  sign  his 
name. 

Like  some  other  professional  men,  as  they  advance 
in  life,  pilots  often  become  mannered  and  confirmed 
pessimists  respecting  weather ;  and  it  is  related  of  one 
well-known  Channel  pilot  that  after  sixty  he  never 
answered  a  captain's  usual  greeting  of  "Well,  pilot, 
what  d'ye  think  of  the  weather  ?  "  in  any  other  form 
than,  "  Well,  captain,  I  consider  it  looks  werry  inferior 
— werry  inferior  indeed." 


252       OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

A  well-known  formula,  always  repeated,  parrot-like, 
at  the  close  of  his  job  by  an  old  negro  pilot  in  a  South 
American  port,  is  another  instance  of  this  professional 
mannerism,  "  Let-go- the-anchor- brail-up-the- spanker- 
put-four-men-in-a-boat,  and-put-pilot- ashore." 

In  fact,  no  foreign  pilot  compares  favourably  in 
dignity  or  bearing  with  the  British  article.  A  French 
pilot,  for  instance,  will  at  times  board  a  ship  in  a 
rough  worsted  cap  and  shirt-sleeves,  and  on  coming  on 
deck  handle  a  rope's-end,  or  the  spokes  of  the  wheel, 
as  though  he  formed  one  of  the  ship's  company ;  which 
of  course  at  once  stamped  him  in  the  eye  of  every  one 
as  a  person  of  an  inferior  class.  Then  I  have  known 
a  Yankee  pilot  board  a  ship  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
east  of  Sandy  Hook  in  striped  kerseymere  pants,  a 
black  swallow-tailed  dress-coat,  French  patent-leather 
boots,  and  an  old  Panama  hat,  and  the  moment  he  got 
on  the  quarter-deck  seat  himself  on  a  camp-stool, 
light  a  cigar,  and  commence  chatting  to  the  skipper 
as  though  he  had  nothing  else  to  do  on  board. 

In  these  days  of  steam,  the  pilot  has  rather  a  rough 
time  of  it,  knocking  about  in  his  small  sailing-cutter, 
when  on  the  look-out  for  some  particul .  r  vessel,  right 
in  the  track  of  all  in  and  outward  bound  steamers  ; 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  one  hears  now  and 
then  of  a  pilot-boat  being  run  over  and  all  hands 


IN   THE   DAYS   OF   OAK   AND   HEMP. 


253 


drowned  in  the  narrower  parts  of  the  Channel.  While, 
when  in  charge,  steam,  though  it  has  entirely  changed 
his  mode  of  handling  a  ship,  has  also  increased  the 
risks  a  pilot  runs  of  collision  when  passing  through  a 
fleet  of  sailing-craft  at  night,  when  the  lights  of  such 
vessels  (especially  the  green  or  starboard  light)  are 
rarely  seen  until  too  late  to  be  of  much  use  to  him  or 


French  pilot-boat. 

any  one  else.  It  is  at  such  times  that  the  pilot's  own 
seamanship  and  constant  habit  of  working  under 
canvas  in  his  cutter  is  invaluable,  and  enables  him 
to  judge  intuitively,  so  to  say,  of  the  position  and 
movements  of  the  many  small  craft  about  him. 

Before  steam,  the  rule  of  the  road  was  simple 
enough.  With  meeting  ships  close  hauled,  or  turning 
to  windward,  the  ship  on  the  starboard  tack,  i.e.  with 


254  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

the  wind  on  her  right-hand  side,  held  her  course.  On 
the  port  tack,  i.e.  with  the  wind  on  her  left,  a  ship 
had  either  to  'bout-ship  or  else  port  her  helm  ;  that  is, 
put  her  tiller  to  the  left,  and  pass  astern  of  the  other 
ship,  which'was  the  usual  thing  to  do,  and  probably  led 
to  the  blind  adherence — right  or  wrong — to  the  rule 
of  port  helm  in  all  cases,  among  the  early  masters  of 
steamers.  With  a  fair  wind,  every  vessel  had  to  give 
way  or  keep  clear  of  those  beating  to  windward.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  in  the  days  of  sailing-ships  every 
one,  pilot  included,  on  board  a  ship  close  hauled  on 
the  starboard  tack,  felt  as  safe  as  the  driver  of  a  rail- 
way train  on  a  single  line  of  rails  worked  by  staff  does, 
when  he  has  the  staff,  or  right  of  the  road,  in  hand. 

Lights  were  only  hoisted  when  at  anchor,  unless  it 
were  the  binnacle-lantern  of  a  vessel  lying  to,  or  close 
hauled  in  a  gale  of  wind,  held  up  and  shown  to  one 
running  across  her  track  before  it.  Thick  fog  and 
wind  rarely  occur  together,  so  that  half  speed  or  dead 
slow  was,  as  it  should  be  to-day  among  steamers, 
almost  compulsory  with  sailing-ships  in  foggy  weather. 
It  is  often  said,  as  an  apology  for  collisions  at  sea  now, 
that  we  have  so  many  more  vessels  afloat.  But  it 
must  be  remembered  that  during  all  the  long  years  of 
war-time,  our  merchant-ships  were  seldom  under  way 
except  in  large  fleets  of  a  hundred  sail  or  more  under 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        255 

convoy  of  several  men-of-war,  and  that  unless  scattered 
by  tempest,  the  whole  fleet  had  to  keep  together,  yet 
clear  of  each  other  as  to  single  ships,  day  and  night,  by 
these  simple  rules  of  the  road  only.  The  speed  of  a 
sailing-ship  cannot  be  regulated  in  a  moment  by  the 
turn  of  a  steam-cock,  and  except  by  backing  his  main- 
yard  or  letting  go  an  anchor,  a  pilot  had  no  means  of 
stopping  a  ship,  to  say  nothing  of  "  full  speed  astern," 
a  term  and  resource  of  to-day  quite  unknown  to  old 
seamen. 


256  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

THE    WINGLESS    WAE-SHIP    OF     THE    FUTUKE,    AND     THOSE     IN 
CHAKGE    OF    HEE. 

A  seaman's  workshop — His  tools,  etc. — The  old  definition  of  seaman- 
ship— Soldiers  and  sailors  compared  as  firemen — Sea-legs  re- 
quired for  work  upon  a  modern  mastless  war-ship — An  old  one, 
and  how  she  behaved — How  France  will  always  command  a 
good  and  constant  supply  of  ready-made  sailor-men — The  naval 
officer  of  the  future  as  a  protection  of  our  sailing  merchantmen 
— "  Lame  ducks,"  or  broken-down  steamships  under  canvas — 
Stokers  and  firemen  as  a  boat's  crew — A  prize-master  in  the 
hands  of  his  prisoners. 

HE  is  a  broad-faced,  fair-haired  Dutchman,  astride  on 
the  end  of  the  bowsprit  of  a  large  galliot,  which  has 
just  discharged  a  cargo  of  potatoes,  and  hauled  off 
from  the  quay  to  make  room  for  a  ship  exactly  like 
her  to  the  smallest  detail,  from  the  tiny  ball  of  a 
truck  over  her  vane  to  the  slender  flagstaff  stepped 
picturesquely  on  her  heavy  carved  rudder-head.  The 
bowsprit-end,  on  which  the  man  sits  with  the  ease  of 
an  accomplished  rider,  overhangs  the  water  about 
twenty-five  feet  above  it,  and  just  clear  of  the  stern 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        257 

of  a  collier  lying  nearly  at  a  right  angle  to  her,  over 
the  rail  of  which  a  grimy-looking  lad  is  watching  him, 
and  chatting  partly  by  signs,  and  partly  in  language 
common  to  both ;  for  the  Dutchman  seems  to  know 
a  little  seaport  English,  and  the  collier-boy  evidently 
understands  some  of  the  other's  seaport  Dutch. 

All  the  while  the  man,  as  he  sits,  is  busy  with  a 
marline-spike  and  some  obstinate  wire  rope,  which, 
with  the  jib  down-haul  block,  seems  to  be  constantly 
turning  and  twisting  in  his  hands ;  though  the  man 
appears  rather  to  feel  what  to  do  than  to  look  at  it, 
and  might  be  at  work  on  the  jibboorn-end  after  dark, 
so  far  as  his  eyes  are  concerned.  He  is  really  turning 
in  afresh,  or  re -stropping,  the  block  in  his  hands,  or, 
maybe,  clapping  on  an  extra  seizing.  But,  whatever 
the  work  may  be,  the  thing  which  strikes  one  is  the 
repose  and  perfect  balance  of  the  man  on  his  narrow- 
backed  wooden  horse,  which  is  never  quite  still ;  for 
the  galliot,  having  a  clean-swept  hold,  moves  to 
even  the  swell  of  a  passing  tug,  and  blows  to  and 
fro  from  the  quay  in  every  gust  of  wind. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  sailless  war-ships  ? 
Well,  just  this.  Where  and  how  did  this  Dutchman 
get  his  balance  and  power  of  working  at  his  ease  in 
what  to  most  people  would  be  an  awkward,  if  not  a 
dangerous  position  ?  Well,  simply  from  much  work 


258 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


of  the  kind  at  far  greater  heights,  upon  spars  swaying 
about  at  all  angles,  above  a  rolling,  pitching  ship  at 
sea.  Very  few  see  him  at  this  work,  and  those  who 
do  would  not  look  twice  at  him.  But  here,  standing 
comfortably  on  the  stone  quay-side,  one  is  able  to 
watch  every  turn  of  his  hand  and  wrist  as  he  tautens 
each  turn  of  the  seizing,  and  to  see  that  he  has  about 
him  a  knife,  a  sharp-pointed  spike,  or  pricker,  some 


Dutch  sailor  on  his  narrow-backed  horse. 
;  i  «« 

small  seizing-stuff,  as  well  as  a  ball  of  twine,  and  some 
grease.  His  knife  and  spike  are  of  course  secured  by 
lanyards  ;  but  how  he  contrives  to  keep  all  his  tools 
in  hand  is  in  itself  a  marvel.  Even  the  block  was 
evidently  all  adrift  just  now  to  an  outsider's  eye, 
though  no  doubt  secured  by  a  yarn  in  some  way. 
Now,  all  this  man's  strange  dexterity  is  included  in 
the  old  term,  "  seamanship "  —  only  an  A.B.,  or 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        259 

thorough  sailor-man,  knowing  just  what  to  do,  or 
what  could  be  done,  with  a  bit  of  new  rope  or  yarn, 
and  how  to  do  it  as  this  Dutchman  can,  perch  him 
where  you  will.  An  ordinary  seaman  can  "  hand- 
reef  and  steer  "  —that  is,  help  take  in  or  reef  sails — 
and  take  his  trick  at  the  wheel,  which  is  about  all,  if 
not  more  than  all,  that  some  of  the  crew  of  a  steamer 
can  do  now,  when  all  our  large  sailing-ships  are  fitted 
and  rigged  ready  for  use,  by  shore  gangs  of  riggers — 
usually  salts  of  the  old  type,  who,  too  old  or  too  cun- 
ning to  go  to  sea,  make  a  more  comfortable  living  by 
such  work  in  dock.  All  our  present  men-of-war's  men 
still  know  something  of  seamanship  ;  but  there  must 
come  a  time,  if  sails  and  rigging  are  entirely  given  up 
in  the  navy,  when  even  what  remains  of  the  "  able 
seaman"  about  them  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  and 
they  will  be  no  more  like  sailor-men  than  a  hand  on 
board  a  penny  steamboat  or  a  Thames  lighter  is : 
clever  fellows  in  their  way,  but  entirely  wanting  in 
the  cat-like  agility  which  still  marks  the  English  blue- 
jacket. 

Policemen  and  soldiers  are  all  well  drilled  and  set 
up ;  but  the  smartest  dragoon,  even  the  smartest  artil- 
leryman, would  appear  heavy  and  cart-horse-like  in 
competition  with  a  blue-jacket  at  a  fire,*  or  about 

*  Owing  to  the  rapid   decrease  in  the  number  of  real  sailor-men 


260  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

work  that  demands  a  steady  head  and  quickness  of 
resource.  Owing  to  the  want  of  the  compensating 
swing  of  lofty  spars,  there  is  nothing  so  uneasy  afloat, 
unless  water-logged,  as  a  mastless  vessel  in  a  sea- 
way ;  *  so  that  all  work  done  on  board  such  craft 
would  at  sea  be  more  easily  done  by  men  whose 
limbs  and  heads  had  been  accustomed  to  work  aloft. 
While,  should  we  and  the  French  really  both  decide 
to  abolish  sails  in  war-ships,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
by  us  that,  owing  to  their  system  of  naval  conscrip- 
tion, our  neighbour's  fleets  would  still  be  manned  by 
real  sailor-men,  drawn  from  their  enormous  fleet  of 
large  sea-going  fishing-vessels,  etc. 

So  much  for  the  blue-jacket.     But  why  should  the 

in  our  steam  merchant-navy,  the  head  of  the  London  Fire  Brigade 
reported  a  short  time  ago  that  he  finds  more  difficulty  every  year  in 
filling  its  ranks  with  men  like  those  he  formerly  got  from  the  crews 
of  our  sailing  merchantmen. 

*  A  practical  illustration  of  this  occurs  in  an  account  in  "  An- 
son's  Voyage,"  of  the  difficulty  Captain  Saunders  had  in  boarding 
the  "Tryal  sloop,"  in  a  seaway,  after  she  was  condemned  as  unfit 
for  service,  and  her  masts  had  been  removed.  He  was  ordered  to 
scuttle  her ;  but  reported  that,  "  having  neither  masts  or  sails  to 
steady  her,  she  rolled  and  pitched  so  violently  that  it  was  impossible 
for  a  boat  to  lay  alongside  her ;  "  so  that  though  the  order  to  sink 
her  was  given  him  on  the  27th  of  September,  it  was  not  until  the  4th 
of  October  that  he  was  able  to  carry  it  out.  Seamen  in  those  days 
were  almost  in  the  daily  habit  of  boat-communication  between  ship 
and  ship,  and  it  must  have  been  no  ordinary  pitching  and  rolling 
that  kept  one  of  them  dancing  attendance  for  a  whole  week  upon  a 
condemned  vessel. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        2<)1 

brains  and  time  of  young  naval  officers,  already  rather 
overtaxed,  be  wasted  in  learning  useless  sail-drill  and 
details  of  an  almost  obsolete  seamanship  ?  It  has 
been  truly  said  that,  "for  a  war  navy,  if  sails  did 
not  exist,  it  would  be  necessary  to  invent  them — 
practice  in  handling  a  ship  under  sail  demanding  an 
amount  of  attention,  alertness,  and  foresight,  which  no 
other  peace  occupation  ever  calls  for  from  an  officer."* 
Sails  and  sailing-ships  do,  however,  exist,  and  among 
merchant-ships  will  probably  continue  to  do  so  for 
some  time ;  and,  so  long  as  this  is  the  case,  some 
knowledge  of  sail  evolutions  will  be  absolutely  required 
of  those  entrusted  with  the  navigation  of  even  "  sail- 
less  war-ships ;  "  if  only  to  enable  officers  in  charge  of 
such  craft  to  judge  from  the  force  and  direction  of  the 
wind,  by  day  or  night,  what  any  sailing-ship,  brig,  or 
schooner,  that  may  chance  to  cross  his  track,  is  doing 
or  likely  to  do  next,  together  with  her  speed,  etc. ; 
in  order  that  seeing  her  rig  and  the  tack  she  is  on  by 
day,  or  the  position  of  her  light,  or  lights,  by  night, 
he  may  be  able  to  judge  of  and  shape  the  best  course 
to  clear  her.  This  kind  of  knowledge  is  already  rather 
on  the  decrease,  and  want  of  it  may  have  helped  to 
swell  the  number  of  collisions  at  sea  between  steamers 

*  From  a  letter  to  the  Times,  signed  "  Man-of-war's-man,"  January 
14th,  1888. 


262  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

and  sailing-vessels.  But  imagine  some  new-fangled* 
young  naval  officer  of  the  future,  educated  under  steam 
only,  driving  H.M.S.  Sheer  Hulk  up  Channel  (at  her 
measured-mile  speed)  on  a  darkish  night,  across  the 
tracks  of  a  number  of  sailing  merchant-vessels  of  vary- 
ing rigs  and  speed,  which  are,  say,  turning  to  windward 
on  a  flood  tide,  in  a  stiff  breeze  between  the  Start 
and  Portland.  Never  having  handled  a  vessel  under 
canvas,  it  would  be  unfair  to  expect  him  to  know, 
by  looking  at  one  of  these  vessels,  even  in  daylight, 
what  her  speed  was,  or  even  exactly  in  what  direction 
she  was  sailing  or  steering ;  while,  if  told  that  one  was 
in  stays,  or  another  just  about  to  haul  her  head-yards, 
he  would  hardly  understand  the  meaning  of  the  terms. 
Yet  this  is  the  state  of  things  that  must  eventually 
come  to  pass  if  the  entire  abolition  of  sails  and 
sail-drill  ever  takes  place  in  the  navy.  It  may  be 
said  that,  according  to  the  present  rules  of  the  road, 
it  is  the  business  of  all  vessels  under  steam  to  keep 
out  of  the  way  of  sailing-ships;  or  that  a  young 
officer  even  educated  under  steam  has  his  compass 
before  him,  and  has  only  to  take  the  bearings  of  a 
sailing-ship's  light,  and  watch  it  carefully,  in  order 
to  know  what  the  vessel  that  carries  the  light  is  doing. 
This  may  be  useful  in  really  clear  weather,  when  a 
sailing-ship's  lights  can  be  seen  at  some  distance 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  AND  HEMP.        263 

(which  is  just  the  weather  when  there  ought  to  be 
little  risk  of  collision) ;  but  in  blowing,  thick  weather 
the  light  or  lights  of  sailing-ships  (especially  the  green 
one)  are  often  only  visible  a  few  moments  before  the 
ship  herself  is,  and  a  man  at  such  times  had  better 
keep  his  eye  upon  the  sailing-vessel  herself,  and  act 
at  once  upon  his  knowledge  of  her  speed  and  course, 
than  stop  to  take  bearings  of  her,  etc.  And  spite  of 
all  rules  of  the  road,  positions  constantly  arise,  es- 
pecially at  night  in  the  Channel,  in  which  a  good 
knowledge  of  sailing  seamanship  is  necessary  to  a 
steam  captain  for  the  safety  both  of  his  own  vessel 
and  others ;  and  that  such  knowledge  is  still  thought 
important  on  board  merchant  steamships,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  all  officers  in  our  large  companies 
are  required  to  have  served  some  years  in  a  sailing- 
ship  at  sea  before  beginning  their  career  on  board  a 
steamer.  This  is  of  course  right,  and  when  naval 
officers,  and  the  men  under  them,  cease  to  be  sailors, 
they  will  undoubtedly  become  the  terror,  rather  than 
the  protectors,  of  England's  sailing  merchantmen ; 
numbers  of  which  still  exist,  happily  for  us,  as  schools 
of  seamanship,  and,  in  certain  trades,  actually  pay 
better  than  steam.  And  this  reminds  me  that  in 
describing  the  two  Dutch  galliots,  I  should  have 
mentioned,  that,  though  built  on  exactly  the  same 


264  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

old  Hues,  one  of  them  was  constructed  of  iron  or  steel ; 
her  owner  evidently  being  disposed  (probably  for  the 
sake  of  economy)  to  move  with  the  times  so  far, 
though  still  retaining  sail  as  a  motive  power  in  place 
of  steam. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  unseamanlike,  selfish 
character  of  the  idea  of  exposing  men,  in  case  of  a 
breakdown  at  sea,  to  the  risk  and  anxiety  of  finding 
themselves  so  utterly  helpless,  as  they  would  be  on 
board  a  wingless  war-ship  reduced  to  the  state  of 
a  "lame  duck"  in  bad  weather.  But  a  few  quite 
recent  extracts  from  the  logs  of  merchant  steamers 
are  sufficient  to  prove  the  necessity  of  giving  those 
who  command  and  man  our  modern  half-tide  rock 
class  of  war-ships,  some  reserve  form  of  wing  or  sail 
power,  and  some  knowledge  of  how  to  make  use  of  it. 

"Her  Majesty's  ship  Orontes  reports  that  the 
steamer  Norham  Castle  had  arrived  at  St.  Helena, 
with  machinery  disabled  when  417  miles  S.E.  of 
that  island,  to  which  she  sailed  without  assistance. 
All  well  on  board ;  mails  transferred,  and  brought  on 
by  the  Orontes." 

"  Steamship  Syria,  homeward  bound,  soon  after 
leaving  St.  Helena  broke  main  shaft.  In  consequence 
of  head  winds,  was  seven  days  before  she  was  able 
to  regain  the  island  under  canvas." 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        265 

"  Netheiiand- American  Co.'s  steamer  P.  Caland, 
Captain  Bonjer,  from  Kotterdam  to  New  York,  put 
into  Plymouth,  having  lost  three  blades  of  propeller 
and  damaged  rudder.  In  lat.  48°  N.,  long.  38°  W., 
the  fourth  blade  of  propeller  became  loose,  and  one 
of  the  braces  of  the  rudder  was  carried  away,  when, 
finding  it  impossible  to  steer  and  hold  way  against 
a  heavy  sea  and  head  wind,  the  ship's  head  was 
turned  east,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  passengers, 
and  sail  being  set,  and  the  engines  kept  going,  the 
P.  C aland,  before  a  strong  westerly  gale,  made  a 
good  run  back  to  Plymouth,  distance  about.  1800 
miles." 

These  three  extracts,  taken  at  random  from  the 
shipping  news  of  a  month,  speak  for  themselves.  But 
the  question  also  of  how,  in  case  of  having  to  abandon 
a  sinking  or  disabled  wingless  war-ship  in  mid-ocean, 
her  boats  are  to  be  handled  under  sail  by  men  trained 
only  on  board  steam-launches,  etc.,  or  how  they  are 
to  be  handled  under  oars  by  crewrs  of  stokers  and 
firemen,  is  not  without  interest ;  the  very  largest 
steam-launch  that  can  be  carried  on  shipboard  being 
sure  to  prove  a  poor  resource  when  exposed  to  a  few 
days'  bad  weather  at  sea. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  remark  also  here  that  in  war- 
time a  awkward  question  may  arise  as  to  who  is  to 


OF  TUB 


266 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WOKDS, 


take  charge  of  a  sailing  prize ;  the  only  people  on 
board  her  really  "  knowing  the  ropes  "  being  her  own 
officers  and  crew,  or  those  least  interested  in  her  right 
navigation  after  capture. 


Skiff  of  duck-pond. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        267 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

AN  ALPHABETIC  ALL  Y-AKBANGED  LIST  OF  SEA-TERMS,  SOME 
OF  WHICH,  THOUGH  OBSOLETE  AS  TO  THEIR  MEANING 
AFLOAT,  ARE  STILL  USED  ASHORE. 

Aback;     The    position   of    a   ship   when,    through 
neglect  of  the  helmsman,   or  a  sudden  shift  of  wind, 
her  sails  lie  pressed  against  the  masts  and  cease  to 
give  her  headway.      "  I   was  taken  quite    [or,  '  all '] 
aback  when  I  heard  it." 

Able  seaman.  One  rated  as  A.B.,  who  could  not 
only  hand,  that  is  furl,  sails,  reef  them,  and  steer  by 
compass,  etc.,  but  who  was  master  of  all  work  required 
in  the  fitting  and  repair  of  rigging :  such  as  knotting, 
splicing,  serving,  pointing  ropes,  mat-making,  etc. 
As  a  class,  he  is  almost  extinct  among  the  younger 
hands  in  our  merchant-service. 

"Aboard  main  tack."  An  order  to  draw  down 
one  of  the  lower  corners  of  a  mainsail  to  the  chess-tree 
(see  Chess-tree). 

About.  A  term  usually  applied  to  turning  a  ship 
from  one  tack  to  another.  "  He  put  us  about,"  or, 


268  OLD   SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

"  We  had  to  go  about  or  get  aground."  "  I  was  terribly 
put  about." 

A  Burton.  A  term  for  casks  stowed  athwart-ship. 
The  name  also  of  a  small  tackle  used  for  many 
purposes,  and  sometimes  called  "  a  handy  billy." 

Adze,   or  addice.     The  tool  par  excellence   of  the 

shipwright,  and  with  which 
our  old  wooden  ship- 
builders could  "  dub  "  the 
outside  oak  planking  of  a 
great  ship,  and  leave  it  al- 
most as  smooth  as  though 
it  had  been  planed.  An 
adze  is  considered  by  ship- 
wrights the  most  difficult  of 
all  tools  to  handle  well. 
Coopers  also  make  use  of 
the  adze.  In  M.  Du  Chaillu's 
book  we  are  told  that,  when 
building  his  large  ship,  King 
Olaf  employed  a  special 
workman  or  "  shipsmith " 
An  adze,  or  addice.  upon  her  stern  and  stern- 

posts,  one  Thorberg,  l<  scaf-hogg,"  or  "  blow-scraper," 
i.e.  a  man  who  could  trim  and  smooth  heavy  timbers 
with  an  adze.  The  Viking  ships  appear  to  have  been 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


269 


clench-built,  and  this  part  of  the  work  would  be  just 
that  best  done  by  a  man  skilled  in  the  use  of  an  adze 
or  "  blow-scraper." 

Aloof.  "Keep  aloof,"  or  "Keep  your  luff."  An 
order  to  keep  the  ship  nearer  the  point  of  the  compass 
the  wind  blows  from.  This  phrase  was  oftenest  used 


1? 


Anchor  and  parts. 

when  sailing  near  a  lee  shore,  from  which  the  pilot 
ordered  the  helmsman  to  keep  aloof. 

Amain.     At  once,  as  "  Let  go  amain.7' 
Anchor.      Eighteenth-century  anchors  of  any  size 
varied  little  in  pattern,  and,  being  hand-forged  of  the 
finest   tough   charcoal  iron,  were  light  in   proportion 
to  their  size,  strength,  and  holding  powers. 


270  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

1.  The  shank.  2.  The  crown.  3.  The  arms. 
4.  The  palms.  5.  The  flukes  ("  fluke  "  is  an  old 
name  for  the  flounder,  either  from  its  resemblance 
to  this  part  of  an  anchor  or,  as  flounders  were  made 
before  anchors,  flukes,  these  named  after  the  fish). 
6.  The  bill.  7.  The  nuts.  8.  The  ring.  9.  The 
stock,  formed  of  two  pieces  of  oak  clamped  together 
by  the  hoops,  10.  An  anchor  was  "  a  cock-bill  "  when 
it  hung  from  the  cat-head  ready  to  let  go.  "  A-peak," 
when  the  cable  was  hove  in,  so  as  to  bring  the  ship 
over  it.  "  A-trip,"  or  "  a-weigh,"  when  just  out  of 
the  ground. 

In  "  Eoderick  Random, "  Lieutenant  Bowling  uses 
these  terms  freely  in  his  apostrophe  to  Roderick's 
dying  grandfather.  "  What !  he's  not  a-weigh  ?  How 
fare  ye ;  how  fare  ye,  old  gentleman  ?  .  .  .  He  minds 
me  no  more  than  a  porpoise.  Yes,  yes,  he's  going; 
the  land-crabs  will  have  him.  I  see  that  his  anchor's 
a-peak,  faith  !  " 

The  sheet,  best,  and  small  bowers  differed  little  in 
size  ;  the  stream  and  kedge  anchors  were  much  smaller. 
The  chief  difference  between  the  sheet-anchor  and 
best  bowers  was  the  way  they  were  carried ;  the 
bower  being  stowed  just  abaft  the  cat-head,  in  the 
bows  of  the  ship,  while  the  sheet-anchor  was  stowed 
abaft  the  foremast,  near  where  the  rope  called  the 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        271 

fore-sheet  passed  into  the  ship.  This  anchor  was  only 
let  go  as  a  resource  in  case  of  losing  both  bowers  ; 
in  French  it  was  "  L'ancre  desperance."  A  steamer's 
sheet-anchors  are  her  engines.  "  When  things  came 
to  the  worst,  we  always  relied  upon  G.  as  our  sheet- 
anchor." 

Apron.  A  piece  of  sheet-lead  tied  over  the  touch- 
hole  of  a  gun,  to  keep  the  charge  dry  at  sea,  or  in 
wet  weather.  A  term  also  used  in  ship  and  boat 
building  for  a  timber  wider  than  the  stem,  bolted 
inside  it,  and  to  which  the  ends  of  the  planking  for- 
ward were  nailed ;  it  was  a  continuation  upward  of 
the  knee,  or  dead-wood,  which  connected  the  stem  to 
the  fore  end  of  the  keel. 

A-trip,  as  applied  to  sails,  meant  that  they  were 
fully  hoisted  upon  the  mast. 

Avast.  An  order  to  pause  in  any  operation,  as 
"  Avast  heaving  there." 

Awning.  Any  canopy  over  a  ship's  deck  or  boats ; 
but  in  the  old  ships  that  part  of  the  poop-deck  which 
extended  penthouse  fashion  beyond  the  doors  of  the 
poop-cabins,  and  sheltered  the  steering-wheel,  binnacle, 
etc.,  was  called  "  the  awning." 

Bagpipe  the  mizzen.  A  term  used  when  the  old 
lateen-mizzen  was  laid  aback  by  hauling  up  the  sheet 
to  the  mizzen  rigging. 


272  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Bag-reef.  A  fourth  reef  in  a  topsail  used  in  the 
navy. 

Balance.  To  contract  a  sail,  mostly  applied  to 
the  old  lateen-mizzen,  by  lowering  the  yard,  and  rolling 
up  about  a  fifth  part  of  the  peak  of  the  sail,  and 
securing  it  to  the  yard.  A  balance-reef  was  a  reef- 
band  crossing  a  sail  diagonally. 

Banian  days.  A  seaman's  term  for  days  on  which 
no  flesh  meat  was  served.  The  term  is  derived  from 
"Banian,"  a  sect  in  India,  who,  believing  in  the 
transmigration  of  the  souls  of  men  into  the  bodies  of 
animals,  eat  no  animal  food. 

BarJc.  A  three-masted  vessel  ship  -  rigged,  but 
having  no  square  mizzen  -  topsail.  This  term  was 
formerly  also  given  to  a  broad-sterned  ship  in  the 
coal-trade,  without  a  beak  or  figure-head. 

Barricade.  A  stout  rail  extending  across  the  fore 
end  of  the  quarter-deck,  the  .spaces  between  the  post 
of  which  were  filled  with  rope  mats,  cork,  or  pieces 
of  old  cable,  and  furnished  with  a  double  netting  above 
it  to  hold  hammocks,  the  whole  acting  as  a  breast- 
work or  defence  against  small-arm  fire  for  those  on  the 
quarter-deck. 

Bay.  A  space  on  either  side  between-decks  for- 
ward of  the  bitts  in  large  men-of-war. 

Beak-head.     That  part  of  a  ship  beyond  the  fore- 


IN   THE  DAYS   OF   OAK  AND  HEMP.  273 

castle.  In  all  the  older  ships  of  more  than  two  decks, 
the  forecastle,  was  built  square  across  the  bow,  from 
cat-head  to  cat-head,  and  the  beak-head  was  fitted 
with  a  regular  platform  of  grating  with  short  step- 
ladders  leading  up  from  it  to  the  forecastle,  which 
had  also  ports  and  small  doors  opening  upon  this  plat- 
form (see  chapter  on  Figure-heads). 

Becket.  Anything  used  to  confine  loose  ropes. 
"Put  the  tacks  and  sheets  in  the  beckets,"  that  is, 
hang  up  the  main  and  fore  sheet  and  main  and  fore 
tack  to  a  small  loop,  and  knot  beckets  on  the  main 
and  fore  shrouds,  to  keep  them  out  of  water  when 
a  ship  was  sailing  close-hauled. 

Belfry.  The  shelter  built  over  the  ship's  great 
bell,  always  in  our  seventeenth-century  ships  a  richly 
decorated  little  structure.  The  bell  itself  was  usually 
a  fixture,  and  was  struck  by  a  lanyard  attached  to 
the  clapper. 

Bend.  That  part  of  a  rope  which  is  fastened  to 
another;  also  the  act  of  fastening  one  piece  of  rope 
to  another  or  any  object.  Bending  a  sail,  is  to  attach 
it  to  its  yard  or  stay. 

Bends.  The  thickest  planks  in  a  ship's  side,  often 
called  the  wales,  or  wale -streaks. 

Binnacle  (formerly  written  "bittacle  ").  The  old 
binnacle,  besides  containing  the  ship's  compasses,  and 


274  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND  WORDS, 

a  light  between  them,  was  used  as  a  place  to  stow 
the  log-reel,  line,  and  clip,  with  its  half-minute  glass, 
the  log-board,  and  traverse-board,  also  the  charts  in 
immediate  use,  etc. 

Birth,  or  berth.     The  place  or  station  occupied  by 


Carved  belfry. 

a  vessel  at  anchor  in  a  roadstead.  "A  snug  berth," 
one  well  sheltered  from  wind  and  sea.  "  He  has  a 
snug  berth  in  the  War  Office. "  "  I  did  not  like  the 
look  of  him,  and  gave  him  a  wide  berth,"  etc. 

Bitts.     Two  strong  timbers  framed  together  upright 


IN  THE   DAYS  OF   OAK  AND   HEMP.  275 

in  the  fore  part  of  a  ship's  main  deck,  round  which 
the  cable  had  a  turn  when  a  vessel  rode  at  anchor. 
Men-of-war  usually  had  two  pairs  of  cable-bitts,  and 
when  both  were  used,  the  cable  was  said  to  be  double- 
bitted.  " Bitter"  meant  one  turn  of  the  cable  round 
the  bitts,  and  the  " bitter-end"  was  that  part  of  the 
cable  abaft  the  bitts,  and  therefore  withinboard  when 
a  ship  was  at  anchor;  hence  the  term  "  To  the  bitter 
end."  "We  veered  cable  to  the  bitter-end,"  etc. 
" Bitter-end"  is  also  used  to-day  among  rope-makers 
to  denote  the  fag  or  ragged  end  of  a  coil  of  new  rope. 
And  Mr.  Pepys,  in  his  Diary,  complains  of  peculations, 
or  of  certain  dealings  in  "  bitter-ends,"  among  the 
dockyard  officials  of  his  time.  There  are  also  topsail 
sheet-bitts  and  carrick-bitts ;  those  that  support  the 
windlass;  with  the  pawl-bit,  which  bears  the  strain 
of  a  short  piece  of  iron,  or  pawl,  working  in  a  rack 
upon  the  windlass,  and  by  which  it  is  held  from  turn- 
ing the  reverse  way  as  the  cable  is  hove  in  by  turning 
the  windlass  about  by  handspikes. 

Black-stroke.  A  broad  range  of  planking  above  the 
wales,  coated  with  tar  and  lamp-black  to  preserve  them 
and  form  a  variety  contrasted  with  the  varnished  wood 
above  them  and  the  white  colour  of  the  ship's  bottom 
below.  Oil-paint  was  rarely  used  on  board  ship  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  its  place 


276  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

being  taken  by  varnished  and  gilded  woodwork,  with 
here  and  there  a  bit  of  bright  red  varnished  paint.  And 
when  one  considers  the  many  constructive  defects  so 
easily  covered,  after  being  filled  in  with  putty,  by  a 
coat  of  oil-paint,  there  appears  to  be  good  sense  as  well 
as  good  taste  in  this  love  of  what  seamen  call  bright 
work  kept  well  scraped  and  varnished  among  the  old 
shipmen. 

Boat.  The  boats  of  an  eighteenth-century  man-of- 
war  consisted  of  the  long-boat,  launch,  barge,  pinnaces, 
cutters,  yawls,  and  jolly-boat.  The  long-boat  was  the 
largest  boat  in  the  ship,  and  was  fitted  with  masts, 
sails,  etc.,  and  armed  for  cruising ;  her  chief  employ- 
ment, however,  was  to  bring  heavy  stores,  water,  pro- 
visions, etc.,  on  board,  also  to  go  up  rivers  and  creeks 
for  wood  or  water.  The  launch  was  longer  and  flatter 
bottomed  than  the  long-boat,  and  rowed  more  oars, 
and  was  therefore  better  adapted  for  landing  large 
parties  of  men  or  troops  in  shallow  water.  The  barge, 
which  would  now  be  termed  a  gig,  was  a  long  narrow 
boat,  used  chiefly  under  oars  for  the  conveyance  of  the 
higher  officers  for  short  distances.  Pinnaces  resembled 
the  barge,  but  were  smaller,  not  rowing  more  than 
eight  oars ;  they  were  used  chiefly  by  the  lieutenants. 
Cutters  were  broader,  deeper,  and  shorter  than  the 
barge  or  pinnaces,  and  better  suited  for  sailing ;  they 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        277 

were  all  clench-built,  or,  as  it  was  formerly  called, 
"  cutter-built ;  "  they  rowed  six  oars,  sometimes  more  ; 
when  short  enough  to  be  rowed  with  four,  a  cutter  was 
called  a  jolly-boat.  Yawls  were  like  pinnaces,  but 
rowed  only  six  oars.  When  a  vessel  had  to  be  careened 
during  a  long  cruise,  far  away  from  dockyard  appliances, 
her  larger  boats  were  the  only  means  by  which  she 
could  be  hove  down,  by  tackles  from  her  mast-heads, 
after  the  boats  had  been  loaded  with  a  large  portion  of 
her  heavier  stores. 

Bolsters.  Bags  filled  with  tarred  canvas  to  pre- 
serve the  stays  from  the  chafe  of  the  masts  as  a  ship 
pitched  in  a  sea. 

Bonnet.  An  additional  piece  laced  to  the  lower 
edge  of  small  vessels'  sails  in  fine  weather. 

Boot-topping.  The  act  of  scraping  grass,  slime, 
barnacles,  etc.,  from  a  ship's  bottom,  just  below  the 
water-line,  and  daubing  or  "  paying  "  it  over  with  a 
mixture  of  tallow,  sulphur,  or  lime  and  rosin.  The 
result  when  newly  done  was  to  give  the  bottom  a 
smooth  surface,  creamy  white  in  colour. 

Bow-grace.  Old  junk  or  chain  hung  over  the  bow 
at  the  water-line  to  defend  it  from  the  cutting,  saw-like 
action  of  thin  drift-ice  in  a  tide-way. 

Bowline.  A  rope  used  when  a  ship  is  close-hauled 
to  keep  the  leading  edge  of  a  squaresail  rigidly  taut ; 


278 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 


hence  the  term  "  on  a  bow-line  "  for  the  position  of  a 
ship  sailing  as  near  the  wind  as  possible.  The  bowline- 
knot  is  the  same  as  that  used  for  the  loose 
end  of  a  bowstring. 

Box-hauling.  A  method  of  wearing  or 
turning  a  ship  short  round  before  the 
wind  when,  owing  to  a  heavy  head-sea, 
tacking  was  not  possible,  and  when  a 
ship  was  too  near  shore  to  veer  her  round 
in  the  ordinary  way.  Boxing-off  was 
effected  by  laying  the  head-sails  aback, 
when,  from  neglect  of  the  helmsman,  a 
ship  had  lost  steerage  way  through  being 
kept  too  near  the  wind. 
Eopes  by  which  the  yards  are  turned 
horizontally  about  the  masts.  "  Braced  sharp  up  "  is 
the  position  of  the  yards  when  they  are  as  nearly  in  a 
line  with  a  ship's  keel  as  the  rigging  will  allow  them 
to  go. 

Breakers.  Originally  the  name  given  by  seamen  to 
rocJcs  near  enough  to  the  surface  to  break  the  swell  of 
the  sea,  causing  a  constant  roar ;  now  mostly  used  for 
the  broken  top  of  a  sea  or  wave. 

Bream.  To  burn  off  grass  and  old  composition  from 
a  ship's  bottom.  Captain  Woodes  Rogers,  in  his 
journal,  mentions  the  use  of  a  quantity  of  "  Pope's 


Bowline-knot. 

Braces. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        279 

bulls  "  taken  out  of  the  hold  of  a  Spanish  prize  by  him 
for  this  purpose. 

Brig  (short  for  brigandine).  A  vessel  with  two 
masts  rigged  like  a  ship's  main  and  fore  mast,  except 
that  in  the  brig  the  mainsail  was  attached  to  a  yard  or 
gaff  slung  fore  and  aft.  This  rig  was  a  favourite  among 
sea-rovers,  pirates,  etc.,  and  is  supposed  to  have  taken 
its  name  from  brigand  (see  Snow). 

Broach-to  means  that  when  sailing  before  the  wind 
the  ship  comes  to  windward  of  her  course,  and  lies  in 
the  trough  of  the  sea.  Both  these  accidents  may  occur 
through  bad  steering,  a  very  high  sea,  or  from  some 
accident  to  the  rudder  or  sails. 

Broken-backed,  or  hogged.  A  term  for  an  old  wooden 
ship  when,  from  age,  her  frame  is  so  loosened  as  to 
allow  her  to  droop  at  either  end.  It  was  the  custom 
in  the  French  arsenals  to  give  support,  by  means  of 
shores  resting  upon  pontoons,  to  the  heavy  overhanging 
sterns  of  their  larger  ships  when  laid  up. 

Brought  by  the  lee.  To  fall  rapidly  to  leeward  of 
the  proper  course  when  sailing  before  the  wind,  so  as 
to  throw  the  sails  aback  and  endanger  the  loss  of  a 
ship  or  boat  by  capsizing. 

Buccaneers.  Originally  a  name  given  to  certain 
cannibals  of  the  Caribbee  Islands,  who  cut  up  their 
prisoners  and  spread  them  on  hurdles  with  fire  under 


280  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

them  to  dry  and  smoke  the  flesh,  which  they  called 
"  buccaning."  This  name  was  given  afterwards  to  the 
early  French  settlers  in  the  island  of  St.  Domingo,  who 
hunted  wild  cattle,  and  dried  the  flesh  in  the  sun. 
Many  of  these  men  turned  their  attention  to  the  hunt- 
ing of  galleons,  and  thus  " buccaneer"  became  a  name 
for  all  the  piratical  rovers  infesting  the  coasts  of 
Spanish  America. 

Bucklers.  Pieces  of  wood  fitted  together  to  keep 
the  sea  out  of  the  hawse-holes,  but  just  having  space 
sufficient  between  them  for  the  cable  to  pass. 

Bunt.  The  middle  part  of  a  squaresail  from  top 
to  bottom ;  hence  "  buntlines,"  which  led  from  the  lower 
edge  of  the  bunt  to  blocks  near  the  middle  of  the  yard, 
and  were  used  to  haul  up  the  bunt  of  a  sail. 

Burgoo.     Sea-porridge  made  of  oatmeal. 

Gable.  One  which  measured  twenty  inches  round 
contained  1943  yarns. 

Cable-tier.  The  space  in  a  ship's  hold  where  her 
cables  were  stowed ;  used  also  for  the  space  inside  a 
cable  when  coiled  in  the  tier. 

Cappanus.  The  worm  which,  before  the  use  of 
copper  sheathing,  destroyed  ship's  bottoms.  Thin 
wooden  sheathing,  broad-headed  iron  nails,  and  sheet- 
lead  were  used  to  protect  the  planking  of  ships  before 
the  introduction  of  copper  sheathing. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


281 


Capstern,  or  capstan.  A,  the  barrel ;  B,  the  whelps 
(in  Spanish  "  enfanta ")  ;  c,  the  drumhead,  which 
served  as  reading-desk  for  the  chaplain,  etc. ;  D,  the 


Capstan,  with  bars,  etc. 

bars ;    E,  the   pawls ;    and   F,   the   swiffcers,   or  lines, 
connecting  the  ends  of  the  bars. 

CarricJc-bend.     The  real  sailor's   knot,    or   "  noeud 
marin  "  of  the  French. 


A  carrick-bend. 

CarricJc-bitts.  Those  which  supported  a  windlass; 
the  use  of  which  for  heaving  up  an  anchor  was  formerly 
confined  to  ships  of  the  smaller  class,  or  carracks. 

Carry  on.  Often  used  ashore,  as  "  Don't  carry  on 
like  that,"  from  the  sea-term  meaning  to  carry  a  great 
press  of  sail. 

Cartridge-box.     A  circular  wooden  box  to  hold  one 


282  OLD  SEA  WINGS,  WAYS,  AND  WORDS, 

cartridge,  and  preserve  it  from  damp  or  sparks,  made 

with  a  lid  sliding  upon  two  parts  of  small  rope. 

Casting.     Just  before  an  anchor  was"  started  from 

the  ground,  in  a  sailing-vessel,  it  was  often  important 

to  make  sure  that  her  head  would  turn,  or  cast,  in  some 
required  direction,  which  was  done 
by  hauling  over  the  sheet  of  a  small 
headsail  to  windward  at  the  moment 
the  anchor  lost  its  hold.  As  on 
shore,  the  decision  of  an  equally 
divided  assembly  is  settled  by  "  a 
casting  vote." 

Cat-liarpings.  An  assemblage  of 
ropes  and  tackles  just  abaft  the  lower 
yards  for  tightening  the  shrouds, 
and  to  allow  the  yards  to  be  braced 
or  pointed  nearer  the  wind. 

Cat-o' -nine-tails,  or  the  cat.  Nine 
pieces  of  line  eighteen  inches  long, 
with  a  stout  rope  handle ;  each  tail 
of  the  cat  had  three  knots  in  its 
end.  "  A  thieves'  cat  "  only  differed 

from   this   instrument    in  having    larger    and    harder 

knots  in  the  tails. 

Chain-wales,  or  channels.     "  Wale  "  seems  to  have 

meant  any  plank  on  a  ship's  side  projecting  beyond 


Cartridge-box. 


IN   THE   DAYS   OF   OAK  AND   HEMP.  283 

the  ordinary  planking,  as  the  chain-wales  which  extend 
the  spread  of  the  shrouds  did,  and  through  which  the 
ends  of  the  long  links  of  the  chains  passed  to  which  the 
shroud  deadeyes  were  secured. 

Chappelling.  A  ship  was  said  to  build  a  chapel 
when,  without  headway,  she  turned  completely  round 
in  a  light  or  baffling  wind. 

Chess-tree.  A  piece  of  wood  bolted  on  each  side 
of  a  ship,  with  a  hole  in  its  upper  part,  through  which 
the  rope  called  the  maintack  passed,  by  which  the  clew 
of  the  mainsail  was  extended  to  windward. 

Choke  his  luff.  Sea-term  for  "  Put  a  spoke  in  his 
wheel."  To  "  choke  the  luff"  of  a  tackle  or  running 
purchase,  meaning  to  stop  the  action  of  one  of  the 
blocks  by  jamming  a  loop  or  "  bight "  of  the  rope 
of  the  tackle  across  and  between  the  other  parts  and 
the  sheaves  of  the  block.  This  is  often  done  as  a 
temporary  makefast  for  a  small  fore-and-after's  main- 
sheet,  on  account  of  the  facility  with  which  the  sheet 
can  be  eased  by  pulling  out  the  loop  of  rope  which 
chokes  the  lower  sheet  tackle-block.  The  term,  how- 
ever, probably  originated  among  seaman  when  engaged 
in  what  is  now  known  to  yachtsmen  as  "  a  luffing 
match  ;  "  that  is,  when  of  two  vessels  sailing  close 
hauled  the  weathermost  one  is  able  to  luff  and  get 
just  far  enough  ahead  of  the  other  to  take  the  wind 


284 


OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


out  of  her  sails,  and  so  stop  her  way,  or  "  choke  her 
luff"  for  a  time,  or  as  long  as  she  can  keep  the 
leeward  vessel  in  this  position.  The  importance,  when 
engaged  at  close  quarters,  of  choking  an  enemy's  luff, 
must  formerly  have  been  very  great,  as  after  his  speed 
was  checked  in  this  way,  it  would  be  possible  to  bear 
away  across  his  bows  and  pour  in  a  raking  broadside. 

Club-haul.      A  method  of    tacking   a   ship   when 
dangerously  near  a  lee  shore,  or  when  to  "  miss-stay  " 


would  be  fatal  to  her.  It  was  done  by  letting  go  the 
lee-anchor  as  soon  as  the  wind  was  out  of  her  sails, 
after  which,  the  moment  her  head-sails  were  aback,  the 
helm  was  put  amidships,  or  shifted  in  case  of  sternway, 
the  cable  cut,  and  the  sails  trimmed  upon  the  other  tack. 
Coach,  or  couch.  From  the  ancient  carrosse  of  the 
galley,  an  apartment  in  our  old  men-of-war  and  East 
Indiamen  under  the  poop-deck,  which  sometimes  con- 
tained the  fourpost  bedstead  of  the  admiral  or  captain. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        285 

Cock-pit.  A  room  near  the  after-hatch  under  the 
lower  gun-deck  of  a  man-of-war,  where  the  wounded 
in  action  were  carried  and  attended  to  hy  the  surgeon 
and  his  mates.  Smollet  thus  describes  this  place  on 
board  the  Thunder :  "  My  friend  Thompson  carried 
me  down  to  the  cock-pit,  the  place  allotted  for  the 
habitation  of  the  surgeon  and  his  mates,  and  when 
he  had  shown  me  their  berth,  as  he  called  it,  I  was 
lost  with  astonishment  and  horror.  We  descended 
by  divers  ladders  to  a  space  as  dark  as  a  dungeon, 
which  was,  I  understood,  several  feet  below  water, 
being  just  above  the  hold.  I  had  no  sooner  come  near 
this  dismal  gulf  than  my  nose  was  saluted  with  an 
intolerable  stench  of  putrid  cheese  and  rancid  butter, 
that  issued  from  an  apartment  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder 
like  a  chandler's  shop,  where,  by  the  faint  glimmer  of 
a  candle,  I  perceived  a  man  with  a  pale  meagre 
countenance,  sitting  behind  a  kind  of  desk,  having 
spectacles  on  his  nose,  and  a  pen  in  his  hand.  This 
I  learned  from  Thompson  was  the  ship's  steward,  who 
sat  there  to  distribute  provision  to  the  several  messes, 
and  to  mark  what  each  received.  Thompson  here  had 
my  name  entered  in  his  mess,  and,  taking  a  light  in 
his  hand,  conducted  me  to  the  place  of  his  residence, 
a  square  of  about  six  feet,  surrounded  by  the  medicine- 
chest,  that  of  the  first  mate,  and  his  own,  and  a  board 


286  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

by  way  of  table,  fastened  to  the  after  powder-room ; 
it  was  also  enclosed  with  canvas,  nailed  round  to  the 
beams  of  the  ship  to  screen  us  from  cold,  as  well  as 
from  the  view  of  the  midshipmen  and  quartermasters, 
who  lodged  within  the  cable-tiers  on  each  side  of  us. 
In  this  gloomy  mansion  he  entertained  me  with  some 
cold  salt  pork,  brought  from  a  locker  fixed  above  the 
table,  and  calling  the  boy  of  the  mess,  sent  for  a  can 
of  beer,  of  which  he  made  excellent  flip,  to  crown  the 
repast. " 

Commander.  A  large  wooden  mallet  used  on  board 
ship. 

Counter.  An  arch  or  vault  terminating  above  the 
stern,  and  below  by  the  wing-transom  and  buttocks. 
The  second  counter  was  above  and  parallel  to  this,  but 
not  arched,  and  extended  from  the  top  of  the  lower 
counter  to  the  bottom  moulding  of  the  cabin  or  ward- 


"O 

room. 


Cross-jack  yard  (pronounced  "crojeck-yard  ").  The 
lower  square-yard  upon  the  mizzenmast,  and  only 
used  to  extend  the  inizzen-topsail  sheets.  The  "vergue 
sec,"  dry,  or  barren  yard  of  the  French.  An  old 
writer  speaks  of  a  "crosstree-yard,"  which  stood  square 
just  under  the  mizzen-top,  to  which  it  was  fastened. 

Cut  and  run.  A  sea-term  meaning  to  cut  the 
cable,  and  run  off  before  the  wind,  to  escape  an  enemy 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


287 


or  danger,  without  waiting  to  get  up  the  anchor  ;  often 
used  on  shore  as  "  He  cut  away  at  once,  the  moment 
he  saw  us." 


Ship's  stern,  counter,  etc.  (Vandervelde). 

Cut  of  his  jib  (see  page  27). 

Dame-jeanne.    An  old  French  sea-name  for  a  demi- 
john, a  large  bottle  holding  four  or  five  gallons. 


288  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WOEDS, 

Damelopre.  A  Dutch  coaster  or  sailing-barge,  the 
mast  of  which  can  be  lowered  for  passing  bridges  ; 
a  vessel  very  like  our  billy-boy—craft  manned,  as 
sailors  have  it,  by  father,  brother,  mother,  and  Uncle 
Sam. 

Deadeyes.  The  three-holed  wooden  blocks  through 
which  the  lanyards  that  connect  the  shrouds  with  the 
ship's  side  pass.  The  word  was  originally  written 
"  Deadmen's  eyes,"  probably  from  the  resemblance 
they  bore  to  a  skull. 

Dead-lights.  Stout  ports  to  fit  into  the  cabin 
windows  in  bad  weather,  the  glass  sash-frames  being 
first  removed. 

Deck.  A  first-rate  had  three  whole  decks,  reaching 
from  stem  to  stern,  a  forecastle,  and  quarter-deck ;  the 
forecastle  extended  from  the  stem  aft  to  the  belfry, 
abaft  which,  on  the  upper-deck,  between  the  belfry  and 
the  boats  on  the  booms,  was  a  space  called  "  no-man's 
land,"  where  were  stowed  blocks,  ropes,  tackles,  etc., 
likely  to  be  wanted  on  the  forecastle.  Over  the  after 
part  of  the  quarter-deck  was  the  poop-deck,  which  in 
a  first-rate  formed  the  roof,  the  "  coach,"  or  chaplain's 
cabin.  The  Spaniards  called  the  quarter-deck  "alcaza," 
a  palace,  castle,  or  fortress.  Under  the  lower  gun-deck 
was  the  orlop,  where  were  stowed  the  cables,  sails,  etc. 
Other  ships  of  the  line,  and  some  fifty-gun  ships,  had 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


289 


two  gun-decks,  an  orlop,  forecastle,  quarter-deck,  and 
poop.  Frigates  and  sloops  had  one  gun-deck,  a  half- 
deck,  and  forecastle,  with  a  spar-deck  below  to  lodge  the 
crew,  but  no  poop.  Galley-built  ships,  brigs,  cutters, 
etc.,  had  no  half-deck  or  forecastle. 

Decoying.     A  way  of  diverting  the  attention  of  an 


A  dogger. 

enemy  of  superior  force  at  night,  by  throwing  a  lighted 
barrel  of  tar  into  the  sea,  and  then  changing  your 
ship's  course.  The  same  stratagem  was  also  employed 
by  privateers  to  entice  a  vessel  of  inferior  force  within 
shot.  It  was  also  used  sometimes  by  a  single  frigate, 
to  induce  an  enemy's  squadron  to  follow  her  until 
within  view  of  the  fleet  she  belonged  to. 

Dogger.  The  "dugga"  of  Iceland.  A  Dutch  fishing- 

u 


200  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

boat,  like  a  ketch,  used  in  the  cod-fisheries  upon  the 
Dogger  Bank. 

Dog-vane.  The  old  dog-vane  was  made  of  corks 
with  feathers  stuck  in  them,  threaded  upon  a  small 
line  and  fastened  to  the  staff  of  a  half-pike,  stuck 
upon  the  weather-rail  to  steer  hy  when  sailing  on 
a  wind. 

Dolphin.  A  wreath  of  plaited  cordage  round  the 
mast,  to  support  the  puddening,  and  help  the  jeers  to 
carry  the  lower  yards,  in  case  the  chain  slings  were 
shot  away. 

Dolphin  striker.     (See  Martingale.) 

Double-banked.  Oars  were  called  double-banked 
when  two  men  worked  at  one  oar,  or  when  two 
opposite  oars  were  worked  by  two  men  seated  on  the 
same  thwart. 

Dowse.  To  let  down  or  slacken  suddenly.  "  Douse 
the  glim,"  to  hide  a  lighted  lantern  by  putting  it  into 
an  empty  bucket. 

Drabbler.  A  piece  of  sail  laced  to  the  bottom  of 
a  sloop  or  schooner's  squaresail. 

Driver.  A  large  sail,  set  at  times  with  a  free  wind 
on  the  old-fashioned  mizzen-yard.  The  foot  of  this  sail 
was  extended  by  a  boom  far  over  the  taffrail,  and  was 
sometimes  fitted  with  a  jack-yard  to  the  mizzen-peak ; 
the  fore  part  of  the  driver  was  laced  to  the  mizzen-mast. 


IX  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        291 

Du,cJc  up.  A  term  used  by  the  steersman  when  the 
mainsail,  foresail,  or  spritsail  hung  in  the  way  of  his 
view  of  an  object  ahead;  used  also  by  those  firing  a 
bow-chase  gun  when  the  spritsail  obstructed  their 
sight. 

Earring.  A  small  rope  used  to  fasten  the  upper 
corner  of  a  sail  to  its  yard ;  each  reef  in  a  sail  has  its 
earring  or  reef-earring.  When  reefing,  the  man  that 
passed  the  weather  earring  held  the  place  of  honour. 

Ease  her.  An  order  to  the  helmsman  to  put  his 
helm  a  little  over  to  leeward  when  meeting  a  very 
heavy  sea,  in  order  to  deaden  the  ship's  way- and  meet 
the  sea  more  bow  on. 

Edge  away.  To  gradually  increase  the  distance 
between  your  ship  and  the  shore,  or  from  another  ship. 

Edge  toward  him.  To-luff  gently  toward  a  ship  to 
windward. 

Elbow  in  the  hawse.  When  a  ship  moored  with  two 
anchors  has,  for  want  of  proper  attention,  swung  twice 
the  wrong  way,  and  so  caused  her  cables  to  take  half  a 
round  turn  on  each  other. 

Ensign  (originally  written  " ancient").  The  national 
flag,  a  very  large  one  in  our  old  men-of-war,  hoisted 
upon  the  ensign-staff  astern. 

Entry -port.  A  port  cut  down  on  the  middle-deck 
of  a  line-of-battle  ship  as  a  front  door. 


202  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Fall  off.  A  ship  was  said  to  fall  off,  or  break  off 
so  many  points,  when,  owing  to  the  wind  heading  her, 
the  course  had  to  be  changed  for  the  worse.  "  What 
a  falling  off  was  there." 

Fathom.  A  sea  measure  of  six  feet,  often  roughly 
estimated  by  seamen  as  the  distance  from  thumb  to 
thumb  when  their  arms  were  fully  extended.  The 
fathom  formerly  varied  from  six  to  five  feet  six, 
according  to  the  class  or  size  of  the  vessel  it  was  used 
in ;  while,  on  board  small  fishing-boats,  the  "  small 
fathom  "  of  five  feet  was  used. 

Fights.  The  waist-cloths  hung  round  a  ship  in 
action  to  conceal  her  men. 

Filling  a  ship's  bottom.  Covering  it  with  flat- 
headed  nails  to  keep  out  the  worm. 

Fish-gig.  A  harpoon  loaded  with  lead  at  the  end 
of  the  staff,  which,  after  a  fish  was  struck,  tended  to 
turn  it  over. 

Flag.  When  the  flag  was  hoisted  at  the  main- 
top-gallant mast-head,  it  denoted  an  admiral's  ship ; 
at  the  fore,  a  vice-admiral ;  at  the  mizzen,  a  rear- 
admiral.  How  is  this  arranged  upon  modern  mastless 
war-ships  ? 

Flemish-horse.  The  outer,  or  shorter  foot-rope 
near  the  end  of  a  yard,  upon  which  the  man's  feet  rest 
who  passes  the  reef-earrings. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         293 

Flog  the  glass.  To  turn  the  half-hour  glass,  by 
which  the  ship's  time  was  kept,  too  soon,  or  before  all 
the  sand  was  run  through,  in  order  to  shorten  the 
length  of  a  watch  on  deck. 

Foot-rope.  That  to  which  the  lower  edge  of  a  sail 
is  attached ;  also  ropes  below  the  yards  upon  which 
the  men  stand  when  furling  or  reefing  sails ;  these  are 
also  called  "  horses,'*  and  pass  through  eyes  in  the  ends 
of  short  ropes  attached  to  the  yards,  called  "  stirrups," 
which  help  to  support  and  distribute  the  weight  of  the 
men  standing  upon  the  horses. 

Forecastle.  Up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  forecastle  was  almost  square  on  top,  and 
fitted  with  breastworks  fore  and  aft,  the  forward  one 
commanding  the  beak-head  below  it,  and  the  after  one 
the  ship's  waist-deck ;  it  was  also  protected  on  either 
side  by  the  fore  rigging. 

Frapping  a  ship.  Passing  many  turns  of  a  rope 
hawser  round  her  to  strengthen  her,  as  one  would  a 
weak  box  by  cording  it. 

Frigate.  This  name  was  first  given  to  a  class  of 
long  vessels  navigated  in  the  Mediterranean  under 
sail  and  oars.  The  English  wrere  the  first  to  use 
frigates  on  the  ocean  for  war  or  commerce. 

Furling  (originally  written  "  farthel  ").  Squaresails 
are  always  now  furled  in  the  bunt  or  body  of  the  sail ; 


294  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

formerly  this  was  only  done  when  a  long  stay  in  port 
was  contemplated. 

Futtock,  or  foothook  shrouds.  Short  ones  con- 
necting the  lower  rigging  with  the  rims  of  the  tops,  and 
by  which  seamen  climb  to  the  topmast-shrouds,  with- 
out going  through  the  lubbers'-hole  in  the  round-top. 

Galleon.  Originally  a  name  for  all  ships  of  war 
with  three  or  more  gun-decks,  afterwards  retained  by 
the  Spaniards  for  their  larger  merchantmen  employed 
in  the  West  India  trade,  and  those  ships,  large  or 
small,  which  made  a  yearly  voyage  to  Yera  Cruz. 

Galley.  One  of  the  last  boats  of  this  name  with 
us  was  an  open  boat  of  six  or  eight  oars  used  by  press- 
gangs  and  revenue  officers  on  the  Thames ;  the  Deal 
galley  and  galley-punt  are  boats  of  this  type. 
"  Galley  way"  is  a  term  still  in  use  among  'longshore 
men  in  the  south  of  England  :  "  Give  her  good  galley 
way."  "  Galley "  is  the  name  often  given  to  the 
caboose  or  cook's  cabin  on  a  ship's  deck. 

Galliot  meant  formerly  a  small  light-built  galley, 
used  for  chase,  with  one  sail  and  sixteen  or  twenty  oars, 
the  crew  being  all  armed. 

G allow s-bitts.  A  strong  frame  of  timber  in  the 
form  of  a  gallows,  used  to  support  spare  topmasts, 
yards,  booms,  etc.  Yarmouth  luggers  and  many 
French  fishing-boats  are  fitted  with  an  arrangement 


IX  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


295 


Polo- most,  top,  aiul  garlands. 


296  OLD   SEA   WINGS,    WAYS,   AND    WORDS, 

of  this  sort,  upon  which  the  boat's  mast  rests,  when 
lowered  to  ease  the  strain  upon  the  warp,  as  the  boat 
rides  to  her  nets  head  to  wind. 

Gantlope,  or  gantlet.  A  very  old  form  of  sea- 
punishment,  not  unlike  that  sometimes  inflicted  to- 
day upon  members  of  Parliament  when  they  meet 
their  constituents.  In  the  sea  form  of  it  the  offender 
had  to  run  once  or  twice  up  and  down  a  ship's  deck 
between  two  rows  of  his  own  ship's  company,  each 
of  whom  was  furnished  with  a  knittle  of  twisted  cord. 
The  criminal  was  stripped  to  the  waist,  and  was  often 
tripped  up  and  roughly  handled  in  his  passage, 
according  to  the  character  of  his  offence.  From 
M.  Du  Chaillu,  we  learn  that  this  mode  of 
punishment  at  sea  dates  back  to  our  Norse 
ancestors. 

Garland.  A  collar  of  rope  round  a  mast  to  support 
rigging,  and  keep  it  from  chafing  the  mast.  Round- 
tops  were  in  use  long  before  striking  or  movable 
topmasts  were  introduced,  and  topmasts  were  no 
doubt  so  named  from  being  the  masts  just  above  the 
top ;  but  in  the  old-fashioned  pole-masfced  ship, 
the  only  thing  that  marked  or  divided  the  mast 
above  the  topmast  from  it  was  a  rope  garland ;  hence 
the  name  for  this  mast  of  "  top-garland  mast,"  the  top- 
gallant or  to-gallan-mast  of  more  modern  sailors. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP. 


297 


Another  use  for  the  word  "garland,"  or  "  garlands," 
was  for  those  parts  of  a  ship's  top-sides  which  were 
pierced  for  small  light  cannon  by  circular  ports,  and 
which  in  all  the  old  ships  were  decorated  outside  with 
a  garland  or  wreath  of  foliage ;  hence,  I  think,  the 
term  "  top-gallant  forecastle,"  or  the  deck  within,  and 
bounded  by  the  top-garlands  forward. 

"  Garland  "  also  was  used  for  a  rack  between  each 


Outside  of  old  top-gallant  forecastle. 

gun,  and  round  the  hatches,  furnished  with  holes  to 
stow  shot  in,  and  called  the  "  shot  garlands. " 

A  garland  also  meant  a  small  round  net  extended 
by  a  wooden  hoop  just  big  enough  to  hold  a  bowl  or 
platter ;  this  was  hnng  to  the  beam  over  the  table  in 
each  berth,  and  was  used  by  the  seamen  to  stow 
provisions  in,  or  sometimes  a  bowl  of  flip,  which  swung 
securely  in  the  garland  when  the  ship  was  rolling  at  sea. 

Gaskets  (formerly  written  "  caskets  ").  The  ropes 
or  plaited  cordage  bound  round  a  sail  when  furled. 


298 


OLD   SEA    WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


Goose-wings.  The  clews  or  lower  corners  of  a  main 
or  fore  sail  used  by  old  seamen  to  scud  under  when, 
even  if  reefed,  the  sail  would  be  too  large. 

Ground-toes.  Rope  made  of  the  roughest  part  or 
combings  of  hemp,  and  only  fit  for  use  ashore. 

Guess-rope,  guest-rope,  or  gift-rope.  Any  rope  thrown 
to  a  boat,  either  to  tow  by  or  make  her  fast. 


Ship  scudding  under  goose-winged  foresail. 

Gunnel,  or  gunwale.  The  thick  strake  which 
bounds  the  top  plank  of  a  ship  or  boat.  The  lower 
edge  of  each  port  was  also  called  the  gunwale  or  wale 
over  which  a  gun  projected.  "  Port-sill  "  is  the  common 
or  more  modern  term  for  this  part  of  a  port. 

Handspike.     A  bar  of  wood  used  as  a  lever. 

Hank  for  hank.    The  same  as  tack  and  tack  ;  mean- 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        299 

ing  two  or  more  ships  working  their  way  in  company 
to  windward. 

Hard  up,  or  liard-a-weatlier.  An  order  to  put  up 
the  helm  to  windward,  and  run  the  ship  off  before  a 
squall  or  gale.  "  He  has  hard  up,"  or  "  He's  hard 
up ;  "  unable  to  hold  his  own  longer  to  windward,  etc. 

Harping s.  The  fore  part  of  the  wales  or  thick 
planks  round  a  ship's  bows,  which  are  stouter  there 
than  amidships  (see  Cat-harpings). 

Haivse-lags.  Bags  of  oakum  to  stuff  up  the  hawse- 
holes  in  a  seaway. 

Horn-pipe.  An  old  Welsh  musical  instrument 
consisting  of  a  wooden  pipe  with  holes  in  it  and  a 
horn  at  each  end,  one  to  collect  the  wrind  blown  into 
it,  the  other  to  carry  off  the  sounds  as  modulated  by 
the  performer;  the  title  also  of  an  English  air  and 
dance  much  used  by  sailors,  and  named  after  this 
instrument. 

Hounds.  Those  parts  of  a  mast-head  which  pro- 
ject and  support  the  framework  of  the  round-tops  ; 
the  upper  part  of  them  was  called  the  cheeks  of  tJie 
mast. 

Housed.  The  position  of  a  gun  run  in  upon  the 
middle  or  lower  deck,  when  the  port  was  closed,  with 
its  muzzle  resting  against  the  ship's  side,  above  the 
port,  and  held  there  by  tackles,  muzzle-lashings,  and 


300  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

breeching,  etc.     In  officers'  cabins  a  gun  was  at  times 
housed  fore  and  aft. 

HoivJcer,  or  hooker.  Originally  the  name  of  a  one- 
masted  fishing-boat  on  the  south  coast  of  Iceland ; 
now  used  for  any  small  craft,  especially  those  employed 
in  line-fishing. 

Hulluclc.  A  bit  of  sail  cut  adrift  in  a  heavy  gale, 
usually  a  small  part  of  the  mizzen,  to  keep  the  ship 
head  to  sea. 

Idler.  Any  one  on  board  a  man-of-war  who,  being 
at  work  all  day,  does  not  keep  night-watch ;  but  who 
is  nevertheless  expected  to  come  on  deck  at  any  time 
when  "  all  hands  "  is  piped. 

Jack.  A  small  Union  flag  set  on  a  staif  on  the 
end  of  the  bowsprit,  or  upon  the  spritsail-topmast. 

Jack  in  the  bread-room.  The  purser's  assistant  or 
steward. 

Jears.  Tackles  by  which  the  lower  yards  were 
hoisted,  very  like  those  still  in  use  in  the  lateen-rigged 
craft  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  jear-capstan  in  front  of 
the  main  jears  was  the  place  of  punishment  by  flogging  ; 
but  a  man  ordered  to  the  main  jears  was  at  times 
lashed  by  his  extended  arms  to  a  bar  stuck  in  this 
capstan,  and  left  there,  with  a  bag  of  bullets  hung  to 
his  neck,  until  he  confessed  some  crime  or  mutinous  plot. 

Jeivel-Uocks.     Two  small  ones  at  the  extreme  ends 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        301 

of  the  main  and  fore  topsail-yards,  through  which  the 
topmast  studding-sail  halyards  were  rove;  by  which, 
also,  mutineers  were  sometimes  slung  up  to  the 
yardarm. 

Jury-mast,  or  jury-rig.  Masts  and  rigging  set  up 
by  a  ship  disabled  by  shot  or  tempest.  The  rig  of  the 
steamer,  etc. 

Keckling.  Old  rope,  and  sometimes  chain,  wound 
round  a  hemp  cable  to  defend  it  from  a  rocky  bottom 
or  ice. 

Keel-hauling.  A  Dutch  sea-punishment,  in  which 
the  culprit  was  suspended  from  a  yardarm  with  a 
weight  fastened  to  his  legs,  and  another  rope  passing 
under  the  ship's  bottom  to  a  block  on  the  opposite 
yardarm,  and  by  which  the  man  was  let  fall  several 
times  into  the  sea  on  one  side  of  the  ship,  and  hoisted 
up  to  the  other. 

Kevel-heads.  The  ends  of  top  timbers  left  standing 
above  the  gunwale,  and  used  to  belay  ropes  to,  etc. 

Knees.  Bracket-shaped  timbers,  cut  out  of  large 
crooked  limbs  of  oak  having  the  grain  of  the  wood  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  the  direction  of  the  turn  of  the 
knee  ;  they  were  used  principally  to  connect  the  beams 
of  a  ship  with  her  side  timbers  and  planking.  Hanging- 
knees  :  those  fixed  vertically  below  the  ends  of  the 
deck-beams,  and  appearing  to  support  them.  Lodging- 


302  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,    AND   WOKDS, 

knees  :  those  placed  horizontally,  close  under  the  deck, 
with  one  arm  bolted  to  a  beam,  the  other  to  the  side 
timbers.  Dagger-knees  were  those  placed  somewhat 
askew  to  avoid  a  gun-port.  Standard  knees  were  those 
with  one  arm  bolted  to  the  deck  and  the  other  to  the 
ship's  side,  or  to  the  riding-bitts.  Iron  knees  were 
used  very  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  oak  in  the  French  Navy,  owing  to  the 
scarcity  of  oak  timber ;  later  in  the  century  it  was  the 
French  who  were  the  first  to  use  iron  outside  a  wooden 
ship,  in  the  iron  armour-plated  frigate  Gloire. 

Knot.  Usually  a  term  used  by  seamen  for  a  knob 
made  on  the  end  of  a  rope  by  untwisting  the  strands 
and  interweaving  them  regularly  into  each  other.  It 
is  also  used  for  the  various  bends,  or  knots,  by  which 
ropes  are  tied  together  ;  such  as  a  carrick-bend,  a  reef- 
knot,  etc.  A  single  wall-knot,  called  by  French  sailors 
"  Le  cul  de  pore,"  is  the  simplest  form  of  knot  upon 
a  rope's  end,  A  crown  knot,  the  Frenchman's  "  cul 
de  pore  avec  tete  mort,"  is  a  single  wall-knot  crowned  ; 
a  double-crowned  wall-knot  is  the  French  "  cul  de 
pore  avec  tete  d'alouette  ;  "  a  granny's  knot  is  the  "le 
nceud  de  vach "  of  the  French ;  a  jamming  knot, 
"noeud  de  hois;"  and  a  sheep-shank,  "le  nceud  de 
jamb  de  chien." 

Langrely  or  langrage.     Bolts,  nails,  or  other  scraps 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        303 

of  iron,  tied  together,  and  fired  at  an  enemy,  to  cut  her 
sails  and  rigging  ;  used  chiefly  by  privateersrnen. 

Larbowlines.  The  men  of  the  larboard  or  port 
watch. 

Laskirig.  An  old  term  for  sailing  with  the  wind 
free  or  on  the  quarter. 

Lay.  Used  by  seamen  as  an  order  to  move  from 
place  to  place,  as  "  Lay  aft,"  "  Lay  for'ard,"  "  Lay  in 
off  the  yard,"  or  "  Lay  out  on  the  yard,"  etc. 

Lee-fang.  An  old  name  for  the  bar  of  iron  across 
a  deck,  and  upon  which  the  sheet  of  a  fore-and-aft  sail 
traverses,  particularly  that  of  a  cutter  or  schooner's 
foresail ;  it  is  now  called  a  horse. 

Lee-way.  A  ship's  drift  to  leeward  of  her  course, 
when  close  hauled  under  sail.  "  He  will  never  make 
up  his  lee- way,"  etc. 

Lifts.  Eopes  used  to  retain  the  yards  in  a  hori- 
zontal position,  or  to  top  up  either  end  when  required. 
In  the  old  merchant-vessels  the  sheets  of  the  top-gallant- 
sails  often  formed  the  only  lifts  for  the  topsail-yards,  in 
consequence  of  which  these  yards,  in  shortening  sail, 
etc.,  fell  into  various  angles  with  the  mast ;  this  is 
often  seen  in  pictures  by  W.  Vandervelde. 

Light.  A  word  often,  used  by  sailors  in  place  of 
"help,"  or  "lift,"  as  "Light  along  that  hawser,  or 
chain." 


304  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Light-room.  A  small  room  with  double-glass  win- 
dows toward  the  magazine,  for  the  gunner  and  his 
mates  to  see  to  fill  cartridges  by. 

Limbers.  Holes  in  the  lower  part  of  a  ship's  floor- 
timbers  near  the  keel,  forming  a  drain  in  connection 
with  the  pump-well;  this  channel  was  protected  by 
short  planks  over  it  between  each  floor-timber,  and  had 
a  rope  or  small  chain  passing  the  whole  length  of  it, 
which,  being  pulled  to  and  fro,  loosened  any  accumula- 
tion of  filth  in  it.  The  health  of  the  crew  of  an  old 
wooden  war-ship,  especially  a  very  water-tight  one, 
depended  very  much  upon  the  state  of  her  limber- ways, 
just  as  the  healthiness  of  a  house  is  dependent  upon 
the  state  of  its  drains. 

Line-of -battle.  Under  sail,  the  old  line-of-battle 
was  kept  as  nearly  straight  as  possible,  in  order  to 
gain  and  hold  the  advantage  of  a  windward  position, 
and  that  all  the  ships  forming  it  might  be  on  the  same 
tack.  The  advantages  of  the  weather-gauge  were : 
1.  The  ships  holding  it  were  soonest  clear  of  smoke, 
and  were  thus  able  to  note  earlier  all  signals,  etc., 
than  ships  obscured,  not  only  by  the  enemy's  smoke, 
but  their  own,  could.  2.  If  the  weather-line  was  the 
stronger  one,  it  could  at  once  detach  vessels  which, 
bearing  down  before  the  wind  upon  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  fleet,  would  tend  to  throw  it  into  disorder. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        305 

3.  The  fire-ships  of  a  weather-line  could,  when  ordered, 
easily  bear  down  upon  the  enemy.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  advantages  of  the  lee-line  were  :  1.  That  in  case 
of  any  ships  of  the  weather-line  being  disabled,  they 
must  drive  to  leeward,  and  fall  into  the  enemy's 
hands.  2.  Ships  of  a  lee-line  could  more  readily  bear 
away  before  the  wind,  and  have  their  places  filled  by 
ships  in  reserve.  3.  Ships  of  the  lee-line  could  keep 
the  ports  which  bore  toward  the  enemy  open  longer 
in  a  strong  wind  and  heavy  sea,  and  fight  their  heavy 
lower-deck  guns  long  after  the  ships  of  a  weather-line 
would  have  had  to  shut  their  lower  ports.  4.  Those 
on  board  the  lee-line  had  the  decks,  and  men  upon 
them,  of  the  weather-line  of  ships,  exposed  to  the  fire 
of  their  small-arms,  etc. 

Lingua  Franca.  A  patois  or  sea-language  com- 
posed of  Italian,  Spanish,  Arabian,  and  French,  and 
used  among  the  Levant  traders ;  understood,  also, 
more  or  less,  by  most  of  the  old  Mediterranean 
seamen. 

LintstocJc.  A  staff  three  feet  long,  with  a  crotch  or 
fork  to  hold  a  lighted  slow-match  at  one  end,  and 
having  an  iron  point  at  the  other,  by  which,  when  not 
in  use,  it  could  be  stuck  in  the  deck. 

Loblolly -boy.  The  man  who  attended  the  surgeon 
and  his  mates  to  call  the  sick,  etc.  "  Loblolly  "  was  one 

x 


306  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

name  also  for  the  seafaring  dish  of  porridge,  sometimes 
called  "  burgoo." 

Log-board.  Two  boards  hinged  together  like  a 
book,  and  painted  black,  on  which  the  ship's  courses, 
etc.,  were  written  in  chalk. 

Logger-head.  A  lump  of  iron  with  a  long  handle, 
used  for  melting  pitch,  by  heating  it  and  plunging  it 
into  a  pitch-pot. 

Loop-holes.  Slits  in  the  bulkheads  of  what  were 
called  " .close-quarters  "  in  armed  merchant-ships,  and 
through  which  small-arms  were  fired  upon  an  enemy 
boarding  them. 

Lubber' s-hole.  A  space  between  the  mast  and  the 
inner  edge  of  the  top,  passing  through  which,  a  lubber 
gained  the  top  without  using  the  futtock-shrouds. 

Magazine.  A  close  room  in  the  hold  for  powder. 
Large  vessels  had  two  of  these  :  the  hanging  magazine 
aft,  to  hold  a  supply  for  immediate  use,  and  the 
principal  or  fore  magazine,  both  lighted  by  candles 
fixed  in  the  light-room. 

Mainstay.  The  chief  forward  support  of  the 
mainmast,  and  originally,  where  single,  the  stoutest 
rope  in  a  ship's  rigging.  "  He  is  still  the  mainstay 
of  his  party." 

Manger.  A  space  across  a  ship  just  within  the 
hawse-holes,  and  cut  off  aft  by  a  low  bulkhead  called 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        307 

the  manger-board,  which  acted  as  a  breakwater  in. 
stopping  the  water  that  found  its  way  at  times  through 
the  hawse-holes,  from  running  aft  over  the  main-deck, 
the  water  thus  stopped  being  returned  to  the  sea 
through  the  manger-scuppers. 

Marline.  Loosely  twisted  small  line,  usually  of 
two  strands,  for  securing  rigging,  block-strops,  etc. 

Marline-spike.  An  iron  pin,  tapering  to  a  point,  for 
separating  the  strands  of  a  rope,  in  order  to  introduce 
the  ends  of  another  in  splicing,  knotting,  etc. 

Maroon.  To  leave  a  man  ashore  upon  a  desolate 
or  desert  island.  Selkirk  was  marooned  when  left  upon 
Juan  Fernandez,  by  Captain  Straddling,  of  the  ship 
Cinque  Ports. 

Martingale.  A  rope  or  ropes  extended  downward 
from  the  jibboom-end  by  a  kind  of  bumpkin  below  the 
bowsprit-cap,  and  called  sometimes  the  dolphin-striker ; 
the  martingale  acted  as  a  bobstay  does  to  the  bowsprit, 
to  keep  the  jibboom  down  and  resist  the  upward  pull  of 
the  jib.  The  name  is  evidently  taken  from  the  mar- 
tingale used  to  prevent  a  horse  tossing  up  his  head. 

Match-tub.  Tubs  made  of  small  casks  cut  in  half, 
and  having  scores  in  the  brims  to  hold  lighted  slow- 
matches  or  port-fires  for  firing  the  guns ;  the  bottom 
of  the  tub  had  water  in  it  to  extinguish  sparks 
from  the  port-fires  hung  round  it.  In  the  Naval 


308  OLD   SEA  WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Museum  at  Venice,  there  is  preserved  a  more  elegant 
form  of  match-tub  of  copper,  in  shape  not  unlike  a 
small  font,  standing  upon  a  richly  decorated  bronze 
pedestal,  the  top  of  which  is  made  to  revolve  upon  the 
base,  and  is  surmounted  by  an  open-worked  copper 
cover.  This  elaborate  form  of  match-tub  was  used  on 
board  a  seventeenth-century  galley. 

Messenger.  A  lighter  and  more  flexible  rope  than 
the  cable,  used  to  transmit  the  power  of  the  capstan  to 
it  in  getting  up  the  anchor  (see  Nippers). 

Midship-beam.  The  longest  in  the  ship,  and  that 
from  which,  as  a  standard,  the  lengths  of  all  her  spars 
were  taken . 

Mizzen,  misen,  or  misson.  The  aftermost  sail  in  a 
ship,  and,  in  its  original  lateen  form,  a  far  more  impor- 
tant sail  than  the  smaller  one,  now  called  the  spanker, 
which  superseded  it.  The  old  form  of  mizzen  could  be 
laid  aback,  and  in  this  position  formed  one  means  by 
which  a  ship  was  able  to  keep  a  strain  on  her  cable 
when  swinging  round  at  the  turn  of  a  tide,  etc.  The 
command,  "  Change  the  mizzen,"  meant  shift  the  yard 
to  the  other  side  the  mast.  "  Peak  the  mizzen,"  was 
to  hoist  the  peak  up  in  a  line  with  the  mast,  which  had 
to  be  done  before  changing  it  over. 

Mouse.  A  knob  or  knot  worked  on  a  stay  to  pre- 
vent the  eye  slipping  up  to  the  mast-head. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        309 

Navel-hood,  or  wlwod.  Thick  timbers  round  the 
hawse-holes. 

Nippers.  Pieces  of  rope,  five  or  six  of  which  were 
used  at  once  to  connect  the  cable  with  the  messenger 
or  voya,  as  it  was  hove  in  by  the  capstan ;  they 
had  to  be  constantly  shifted  as  the  cable  came  aft, 
and  carried  forward  again  by  certain  boys  of  the 
ship,  also  called  " nippers" — a  word  still  often  used 
by  sailors  or  'longshore  men  for  boys  of  a  certain 
age. 

No -man's -land.  A  space  just  abaft  the  belfry  (see 
Deck). 

Off  and  on.  When  a  ship,  in  turning  to  windward, 
comes  in  with  the  land  on  one  tack,  and  stands  out  to 
sea  on  the  other,  she  is  said  to  stand  off  and  on. 
"  Nothing  off,"  a  command  not  to  let  a  ship  fall  off  her 
course  when  sailing  by  the  wind. 

Over-rake.  A  sea  "  over-raked  a  ship  "  when,  in 
riding  at  anchor,  one  broke  over  her  bows.  The  rake 
of  a  ship  is  the  curve  formed  by  her  upper  works,  or 
her  rise  fore  and  aft,  also  called  her  sheer. 

Over-reach.  To  sail  longer  upon  a  tack,  in  turning 
to  windward,  than  is  necessary  in  order  to  "  fetch,"  or 
reach,  a  given  point.  "  He  has  held  on  too  long  and 
over-reached  himself;  had  he  tacked  sooner  he  would 
have  done  better."  Lawyers  and  stockbrokers  do  this 


310 


OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 


at  times  on  shore ;  the  latter,  for  instance,  when  they 
hold  on  too  long  to  some  stock. 

Outriggers.  Strong  beams  projecting  beyond  the 
sides  of  a  ship  on  the  careen,  to  counteract  the  strain 
upon  her  rigging,  masts,  etc. 

Packet.  A  vessel  appointed  by  Government  to  carry 
mails  and  expresses  in  the  quickest  way. 

Palm.  The  sailmaker's  and  seaman's  thimble  ;  a 
small  round  lump  qf  iron  securely  flxed  in  thick 


Palm,  or  sailor's  thimble. 

leather,  made  to  fit  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  by 
which  a  strong  roping-needle,  about  four  inches  long, 
can  be  driven  through  several  thicknesses  of  canvas 
and  an  inch  of  rope  almost  as  quickly,  and  quite  as 
regularly,  as  a  lady  does  her  needle  through  the  hem 
of  a  cambric  handkerchief. 

Parliament-lied.  Careening  a  ship  sufficiently  to 
clean  the  upper  planks  of  her  bottom,  and  coat  them 
with  fresh  composition.  Was  it  a  cant  sea-term  for 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        311 

"  eye-service,"  good  enough  to  please  the  parliament 
or  people  ? 

Partners.  Strong  timbers  worked  round  spaces  in 
a  deck  which  receive  masts,  capstans,  etc. ;  a  name 
also  for  the  spaces. 

Passaree.  A  rope  to  hold  the  tacks  nearer  the 
ship  when  running  before  a  light  breeze. 

Pay.  To  cover  with  tar,  pitch,  tallow,  or  varnish. 
"  There  was  the  devil  to  pay,  and  no  pitch  hot."  The 
latter  part  of  this  phrase  is  sometimes  omitted ;  but, 
when  complete,  the  words  allude  to  the  fact  that,  after 
caulking  with  oakum,  a  ship's  seams  were  at  once 
"payed"  over  with  melted  pitch,  which  was  always 
done,  if  possible,  before  any  water  came  near  them. 
Of  course,  with  a  long  length  of  caulker's  work  ready, 
or  waiting  for  pitch,  there  would  be  the  devil  to  pay, 
etc. 

Pendants  (pronounced  "  pennants  ").  Short  strong 
ropes  hanging  under  the  tops  on  either  side  the  masts, 
with  an  eye  in  the  end,  into  which  tackles  were  hooked 
for  hoisting  in  heavy  matters.  There  were  many  of 
these,  such  as  the  fish-tackle  pendant  for  fishing  or 
hoisting  an  anchor  to  the  cat-head,  yard-tackle,  pen- 
dants, etc.  Eudder-pendants  were  strong  ropes  made 
fast  by  chain  to  the  rudder  outside  the  ship,  to  lift  it  if 
required,  or  prevent  its  loss  if  accidentally  unshipped. 


312  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Pillow.  A  block  of  timber  supporting  the  inner 
end  of  a  bowsprit. 

Pink.  A  narrow  or  "  lute-sterned "  vessel;  the 
elliptical  stern  of  modern  shipbuilders. 

Plunder.  A  name  given  by  the  captors  to  the  per- 
sonal property  of  the  officers,  passengers,  and  crew  of 
a  prize. 

Plying,     Making  way  by  tacking. 

Polacca.  A  vessel  whose  masts  are  in  one  piece. 
The  yards  of  a  polacca  are  without  foot^ropes  below 
them  for  the  men  to  stand  on  in  reefing  or  furling,  as 
they  come  near  enough  together  when  lowered  for  the 
men  to  reach  the  yard  above  them  when  standing  upon 
the  yard  below  it. 

Pole-axe.  A  short-handled  hatchet,  having  a  sharp 
point  curving  downward  from  the  back  of  the  head ; 
called  also  a  boarding-axe. 

Pomiglion.  A  name  given  by  sailors  to  the  cas- 
cable  or  knob  at  the  breech  of  a  gun. 

Poop  'Royal.  A  short  deck  above  the  after  part  of 
the  poop  in  large  French  and  Spanish  men-of-war, 
serving  as  a  cabin  for  the  master  or  pilot.  This 
deck  was  known  among  our  shipwrights  and  seamen 
as  the  top-gallant  poop  (see  Garlands,  etc.). 

Port-last,  or  portoise,  meant  the  same  as  "  gun- 
wale." "  Lower  the  yards  a-port-last,"  i.e.  down  to 


IN  THE  DAYS  OP  OAK  ANP  HEMP.        313 

the  gunwale.     "  To  ride  a-portoise,"  or  "  a-port-last," 
that  is,  with  lower  yards  struck  in  a  gale. 

Poivder-cliests.  Small  boxes  filled  with  powder, 
old  nails,  etc.,  placed  on  the  decks  of  merchantmen 
that  had  close-quarters,  and  have  a  train  of  powder 
leading  to  the  quarters  below  it,  so  that  it  could  be 
exploded  like  a  mine  among  boarders  on  the  upper 
deck. 

Priming-iron.  A  wire,  or  long  needle,  used  for 
piercing  the  cartridge  in  a  gun  through  the  touch-hole  ; 
used  also  as  a  rammer  to  charge  the  touch-hole  with 
powder. 

Pump.  The  most  powerful  of  the  older  forms  of 
ship's  pumps  was  the  chain-pump,  with  which  two  men 
could  discharge  a  ton  of  water  in  fifty-five  seconds. 

Quarter- cloths.  Canvas,  usually  painted  red,  ex- 
tended outside  the  quarter-nettings  from  the  quarter- 
galleries  to  the  gangways. 

Quarter-master.  An  inferior  officer  who  helped  the 
mates  (navigating  lieutenants)  in  their  duties,  such 
as  stowing  the  hold,  coiling  cables  (a  most  important 
matter  then),  attending  to  the  steering  and  keeping 
the  time  by  the  watch-glasses. 

Quoin.  The  means  used  to  elevate  the  breech  of 
a  gun,  consisting  of  one  or  more  wooden  wedges. 

Hails.     Narrow  planks,  carved  as  decorations,  and 


314  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

nailed  on  parts  of  a  ship's  upper  works,  such  as  the 
drift-rails,  fife-rails,  quarter-rails — these  last  serving  as 
a  fence  to  the  poop  and  quarter-deck  ;  the  sheer-rails 
and  waist-rails  formed  the  fence  amidships  ;  the  rails 
of  the  head,  also  richly  decorated  timbers,  extended 
from  the  bow  to  the  forward  end^  of  the  beak-head, 
which  they  help  to  strengthen. 

Bate.  Before  the  introduction  of  ironclads,  rams, 
turret-ships,  and  big  guns,  men-of-war  were  all  classed 
or  rated  according  to  their  number  of  guns,  and  men 
wanted  to  work  them  and  the  ship.  Thus,  a  first-rate 
included  all  ships  of  100  guns  and  over,  with  crews 
of  850  to  875  men  ;  the  second-rate,  ships  of  from 
90  to  98  guns,  with  700  to  750  men.  Third-rates 
were  ships  of  80  to  64  guns,  with  650  to  500  men. 
All  ships  of  these  three  rates  were  called  "  ships  of 
the  line."  Fourth-rates  were  ships  of  60  to  50  guns, 
with  420  to  380  men.  Fifth-rates  were  ships  of  44 
guns  to  frigates  of  32  guns,  and  300  to  200  men. 
Sixth-rates  included  ships  of  30  to  20  guns,  with  200 
to  160  men  ;  this  rate,  and  all  above  it,  ranked  as 
"post-ships,"  and  were  commanded  by  post-captains. 
Vessels  of  less  than  20  guns  were  styled  commanders 
and  masters ;  these  included  all  vessels  of  from  18 
to  6  guns,  such  as  corvettes,  brigs,  schooners,  sloops, 
and  cutters.  The  date  of  these  rates  is  1788. 


IN   THE   DAYS  OP   OAK   AND   HEMP.  315 

Ratlins.  Lines  worked  across  the  shrouds  as 
rope-ladders.  To  "rattle  down"  was  to  fix  these  to 
the  shroud s, 

Relieving -taMes  were  those  used  to  assist  in  bring- 
ing a  ship  upright  after  careening,  also  to  prevent  her 
oversetting  during  the  operation. 

Repeating -sliip.  Usually  a  frigate,  which  attended 
a  fleet,  and  repeated  each  signal  made  by  the  admiral, 
by  sailing  at  once  the  length  of  the  squadron  if  the 
signal  was  general,  or  to  any  particular  ship  it  was  in- 
tended for,  but  always  returning  at  once  to  the  admiral. 

Rogues-yarn.  A  rope-yarn  differing  in  colour  from 
the  strands  of  the  rope,  and  twisted  in  the  reverse 
way,  used  in  the  l^avy  to  mark  the  king's  cordage 
and  cables  from  that  of  the  merchant-service. 

Room.  This  word,  which,  according  to  M.  Du 
Chaillu,  was  used  by  the  Vikings  for  the  space  in 
their  ships  or  boats  between  each  thwart — "  Erling 
Skjalgison  had  his  large  skeid,  it  had  thirty  rooms, 
and  was  well  manned " —is  in  everyday  use  among 
fishermen  in  the  west  of  England  in  exactly  the  same 
sense.  "  Boom  and  space,"  is  a  term  also  used  by 
naval  architects  for  the  distance  when  set  up  from 
timber  to  timber. 

Rope-bands  or  robands.  Plaited  line  by  which  a 
sail  was  tied  to  its  yard. 


316  OLD   SEA   WINGS,  WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Rough-tree-raiL  A  yard  or  boom  placed  above  the 
sail  amidships  as  a  guard  for  men  passing  from  the 
forecastle  to  the  quarter-deck ;  generally  applied  to  a 
rough  spar  with  the  bark  on. 

Hound-house.  A  name  given  in  East  Indiamen, 
etc.,  to  any  deck-house  or  cabin,  built  on  the  after  part 
of  the  quarter-deck,  and  sometimes  called  the  "  coach  " 
in  men-of-war.  But  from  an  old  engraving,  date  1740, 
of  "  the  internal  parts  of  a  ship  of  96  years,  having  her 
side  cut  oif  to  lay  her  open,"  it  appears  that  in  our 
larger  men-of-war  there  was  an  apartment  called  "  the 
round-house,"  under  the  poop-deck  and  above  the 
main-deck,  which  was  really  circular. 

Roiv-ports.  Square  holes  in  the  bulwarks  of  small 
men-of-war  between  each  gun-port,  for  long  oars  or 
sweeps  to  pass  through. 

Royal.  A  sail  set  upon  the  pole  of  the  top-gallant- 
mast,  and  originally  called  the  "  top-gallant-royal." 

Saddle.  Small  cleats  upon  the  lower  yardarms, 
on  which  the  studding-sail  boom-ends  rest. 

Saic.     A  Grecian  ketch  without  a  mizzen-topsail. 

Sally-port.  A  large  one  in  each  quarter  of  a  fire- 
ship,  from  which  her  crew  escaped  in  their  boats  the 
moment  the  train  was  lighted. 

Samson' s-post.  The  one  close  to  a  hatch  with 
scores  in,  used  as  a  ladder  for  those  entering  or  leaving 


IN   THE   PAYS   OF   OAK   AND  HEMP.  317 

the  hold.  The  name  given  also  to  a  strong  timber 
placed  in  a  sloping  position  with  one  end  on  the 
deck,  the  upper  one  resting  against  a  beam,  and  used 
to  make  fast  a  block  as  a  lead  for  a  tackle. 

Sciatic- stay.  One  fixed  between  the  main  and  fore 
mast-heads  of  merchant^ships,  for  heaving  cargo,  etc., 
in  and  out  of  the  main-hatch. 

Scuppers.  Holes  lined  with  lead  in  what  are  called 
the  waterways,  to  free  a  deck  from  rain  or  sea-water. 

Scuttle.     Any  square  hole  in  a  ship's  deck. 

Scuttle-butt.  A  cask  with  a  square  hole  in  it, 
kept  on  deck  to  hold  the  water  in  daily  use. 

Seize.  In  sea  language,  to  tie  up,  bind,  or  make- 
fast  with  rope-yarn. 

Settee.     A  Mediterranean  craft  of  two  lateen-sails. 

Shackles.  Irons  sliding  upon  a  round  bar  upon  a 
ship's  deck,  by  which  the  legs  of  prisoners  were  con- 
fined to  it. 

Shallop.     A  large  boat,  usually  schooner-rigged. 

Sheep  -  shank.  A  knot  by  which  a  rope  was 
shortened  temporarily. 


Sheep-shank  knot. 

Sheer.     The   longitudinal   curve   of  ship's   side  or 
deck. 


3L8  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Sheet.  A  rope  attached  to  one  or  both  lower  clews 
of  a  sail  to  extend  it  in  a  particular  direction.  "Three 
sheets  in  the  wind,"  not  quite  drunk  or  sober;  a  term 
applied  to  a  man  in  this  state,  when  he  moves  in  an 
uncertain  way,  as  a  ship  does  which  has  been  allowed 
to  come  so  near  the  wind  that  her  three  chief  sails 
are  all  shaking.  If  kept  too  long  in  this  position,  a 
ship  was  apt  to  what  sailors  term  "  get  in  irons," 
from  which  she  was  boxed  off  by  bracing  her  foreyards 
aback,  etc. 

Shoe.  An  anchor  wras  shod  at  times  by  fixing  stout 
triangular  boards  to  each  palm  to  increase  its  holding 
power  in  very  soft  ground.  The  name  also  for  a  small 
block  of  wood  fitted  to  the  point  of  an  anchor  lluke, 
to  prevent  it  injuring  a  ship's  bow  when  being  raised 
or  lowered. 

Shot  of  a  cable.     Two  cables  spliced  together. 

Skeet.  A  long  scoop  for  wetting  the  sides  of  a 
ship  in  hot  weather,  or  the  sails  of  small  craft  in  light 
winds,  to  render  them  more  airtight,  etc. 

Skiff.     A  small  boat,  the  skied  of  the  Norseman. 

Skin  of  a  sail.  That  part  of  it  into  which  the 
body  of  it  is  gathered,  and  which  covers  the  bunt 
when  furled. 

Sky-scraper.  Little  triangular  sails,  sometimes  set 
above  royals. 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.         319 

Slab-line.  A  small  one  used  to  trice  up  the  lower 
.part  of  a  main  or  fore  sail,  when  it  interfered  with  the 
helmsman's  view. 

SlatcJi.  A  period  of  weather  usually  applied  to  the 
duration  of  a  light  passing  breeze  longer  and  stronger 
than  a  cat's-paw. 

Slip.  To  let  the  end  of  a  cable  run  out  after 
buoying  it,  in  order  to  leave  an  anchorage  quietly  and 
quickly  without  getting  up  the  anchor;  done  either 
to  escape  an  enemy,  or  when  on  a  lee  shore  there  was 
not  time  to  get  the  anchor.  "He  gave  us  the  slip 
after  all." 

Slops.  Sailor's  clothes,  etc.,  supplied  at  a  certain 
price  by  the  purser  to  the  crew  of  a  man-of-war. 

Smoke-sail.  A  small  one  hoisted  on  the  foremast 
when  at  anchor  head  to  wind,  to  keep  the  smoke  from 
the  galley  blowing  aft. 

Snotter.  A  wreath  or  gromet  upon  the  mast  of  a 
sprits  ail-rigged  craft  to  support  the  lower  end  of  the 
sprit. 

SJIQIV.     The  rig  often  now  called  a  brig. 

Sounding.  Finding  the  depth  of  water  by  means 
of  a  lead-line.  Owing  to  want  of  time,  not  so  often 
used  now  as  formerly.  "  I  sounded  him  upon  that 
subject." 

Sounding-rod.     An   iron   rod,  marked   in   feet  and 


320  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

inches,  which,  after  being  well  chalked,  was  lowered 
down  a  groove  in  one  of  the  pumps  to  ascertain  the 
amount  of  water  in  the  pump-well.  Wooden  ships 
were  seldom  quite  tight ;  an  iron  one,  of  course, 
should  be.  Constant  use  of  a  sounding-rod  in  an  old 
leaky  ship  during  a  long  cruise,  has  been  known  to 
increase  the  evil  for  which  it  was  used  as  a  gauge ; 
the  iron  rod  itself  having  slowly,  but  surely,  pounded 
a  hole  through  the  bottom  of  the  pump-well,  and 
made  a  leak  not  easy  to  detect  directly  under  the 
pump. 

Spanker.  A  name  given  to  a  ship's  driver  or 
mizzen. 

Splice.  Joining  two  ropes  by  untwisting  the  ends 
and  inserting  them  between  the  strands  of  each  rope ; 
the  first  part  of  this  work  was  called  "  marrying  the 
ends." 

Splice  the  main-brace.  A  cant  term  for  a  drink  all 
round. 

Splinter-netting.  Nets  nailed  up  on  the  inside  of 
a  ship  to  catch  and  deaden  the  effect  of  splinters  in 
action. 

Standing-rigging.  All  that  which,  like  the  stays, 
shrouds,  etc.,  never  moves  or  travels  through  a  block; 
the  part  of  a  rope-tackle  made  fast  to  a  mast  or  deck ; 
is  also  called  the  standing  part,  in  French  "  dormant," 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        321 

or   sleeping   part,    as    a    distinction   from    the   fall,  or 
running  part,  which  is  hauled  upon. 

Standing  tOj  or  from,  an  object  at  sea  means  the 
motion  of  a  ship  sailing  to  or  from  it, 

Stay-tackle.  One  or  more  upon  the  mainstay  of  a 
man-of-war,  for  hoisting  in  boats,  etc. 

"  Steady  the  helm !  "     Keep  the  ship  as  she  goes. 

Stocks.  We  still  sometimes  speak  of  a  ship-builder 
having  "  so  many  vessels  on  the  stocks,"  though  this 
primitive  foundation  for  a  ship  or  boat  has,  so  far  as 
vessels  of  any  size  are  meant,  been  replaced  for  cen- 
turies by  blocks  of  timber  laid  transversely  to  the  line 
of  a  ship's  keeL  But  in  the  west  of  England,  and  no 
doubt  elsewhere,  there  are  boat-builders  who  still  use 
stout  slabs  of  timber,  or  "  stocks,"  firmly  fixed  upright 
in  the  ground,  in  a  line  a  few  feet  apart,  and  with 
spaces  cut  in  the  top  of  each  post  or  stock  to  receive 
and  hold  the  keel  of  a  boat.  This  kind  of  foundation 
is  now,  however,  only  used  for  clench  work,  which 
requires  the  keel  in  the  early  stages  of  such  work  to 
be  firmly  cleated  or  held  in  place,  in  order  to  with- 
stand the  force  used  in  bending,  shoring,  and  fitting 
the  planking  of  the  boat's  bottom  to  it.  In  carvel,  or 
smooth  work,  the  frames  or  ribs  of  the  ship  are  all  put 
in  place  upon  the  keel  before  any  of  the  lower  planking 
is  nailed  to  them,  and  their  weight  is  quite  sufficient 

Y 


322  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

to  hold  the  keel  firmly  in  place  on  the  blocks  during 
the  work  of  planking.  Now,  as  all  the  remains  of 
Yiking  ships  hitherto  found  are  those  of  clench-built 
vessels  or  boats,  it  would  appear  that  this  term,  "  on 
the  stocks,"  must  have  been  left  among  us  by  our 
Norse  ancestors ;  for  clench  work,  as  I  have  said  else- 
where, seems  to  be  very  much  confined  to  English  or 
Scandinavian  boat-builders,  and  rarely  if  ever  adopted 
by  those  of  the  Latin  races. 

Stoppers.  Short  pieces  of  rope,  knotted  at  one  or 
both  ends,  used  for  various  purposes.  Cable-stoppers, 
or  deck- stoppers,  had  a  large  knot  and  lanyard  at  one 
end,  and  were  fastened  to  a  ring-bolt  on  the  deck,  and 
attached  by  the  lanyard  to  the  cable,  which  they  held 
securely  when  a  ship  rode  at  anchor.  A  dog-stopper 
was  a  stout  rope  clenched  round  the  mainmast,  and 
used  to  help  these  deck-stoppers  in  bad  weather.  A 
wing-stopper  was  the  same  thing,  but  clenched  to  a 
timber  at  the  side  of  a  ship. 

Stretch.  A  term  used  often  in  the  same  sense  as 
tack ;  as,  "  We  made  a  long  stretch  out  to  sea." 

Strike.  A  sea-term  for  lowering  anything  from 
aloft  in  a  ship,  as  "  Strike  the  topmasts,"  "He  struck 
his  colours."  Sailors  also  speak  of  striking  guns  or 
casks  into  the  hold,  etc. 

Studding-sails.     Light   sails  extended  beyond  the 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        323 

sides  of  squaresails  in  steady  breezes  and  fair  winds ; 
called  also  by  the  old  seamen  "  goose-wings."  They 
have  gone  out  of  use  lately  in  many  large  sailing- 
vessels. 

Swabber.  A  man  appointed  to  dry  the  decks  with 
swabs.  There  were  also  men  called  swab-wringers, 
swabber's-mates,  etc. 

"  The  master,  the  swabber,  the  boatswain  and  I." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Tempest. 

Swifter.     (See  Capstan.) 

Tabling.     A  broad  hem  round  sails. 

Tally-aft.  An  order  to  haul  aft  the  main  or  fore 
sheets. 

Tartan.     A  small  one-masted  lateener. 

Taunt.     In  sea-language,  high,  or  tall. 

Thus.  An  order  to  keep  a  ship's  head  as  it  was 
when  sailing  close-hauled. 

Timoneer.     The  helmsman. 

Toggle.  A  short  wooden  pin  tapering  toward  the 
ends,  used  with  an  eye,  in  connecting  the  ends  of 
ropes.  In  the  old  men-of-war,  toggles  were  often  fixed 
in  the  running  parts  of  topsail-sheets  and  the  jears  that 
hoisted  the  lower  yards  in  such  a  way  that,  if  the  rope 
was  cut  by  shot,  the  toggle  kept  it  from  running 
through  the  blocks,  and  so  kept  the  yard  from  falling 
or  the  sheets  from  flying  adrift. 


324  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,   AND   WORDS, 

Top-lantern.  A  large  one  carried  in  the  after  part 
of  the  top  of  a  ship  flying  an  admiral's  flag,  or  in 
any  leading  ship  of  a  fleet  or  convoy. 

Top-armour.  A  rail  three  feet  high  abaft  the  tops, 
fitted  with  nettings  for  hammocks,  the  whole  in  action 
being  covered  with  red  baize  or  painted  canvas. 

Touch-and-go.  When  a  ship  scrapes  over  a  shoal- 
ground  without  actually  stopping,  she  is  said  to 
touch  and  go.  "It  was  touch-and-go  with  him." 

Transom.  Beams  across  the  stern-post  which  sup- 
port the  frame  of  the  stern. 

Trice.  To  hoist  up  anything  quickly ;  used  ashore 
as  a  noun,  "  In  a  trice." 

Trim.  The  state  of  a  vessel's  sails,  ballast,  etc., 
upon  which  her  speed  and  seaworthiness  depends.  "He 
appeared  in  good  trim,"  now  rather  out  of  date  ashore, 
the  modern  land  sporting-term  "form"  having  very 
much  superseded  it. 

Trowsers.  It  is  curious  to  read  in  the  "  Midship- 
man's, or  British  Mariner's  Vocabulary,"  of  1801,  how 
these  now  almost  universal  coverings  for  the  legs  of 
landsmen  were  then  defined  as  "  a  sort  of  loose  long 
breeches  mostly  worn  by  persons  on  shipboard"  (see 
page  201). 

Trunk,  or  Tabernacle.  Three  strong  upright  timbers 
or  planks,  built  up  from  the  keelson  of  a  vessel,  and  for 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        325 

some  distance  above  her  deck,  to  receive  the  heel  of  a 
raast,  in  such  a  way  that  it  could  be  lowered  aft  on 
deck  if  required.  Fire-trunks  were  wooden  funnels 
placed  under  the  shrouds  of  a  fire-ship  to  carry  the 
flames  to  the  masts  and  rigging. 

Trying.  The  position,  often  a  very  trying  one,  of  a 
ship  endeavouring  to  hold  her  own  against  a  head-wind 
and  sea  under  storm- canvas. 

Tuck.  That  part  of  a  ship  where  the  ends  of  her 
bottom  planks  were  gathered  together  below  the  stern 
or  counter. 

Tye.  A  stout  rope  passing  through  a  sheave  in  a 
mast-head,  and  used  to  transmit  the  power  of  a  tackle 
to  a  yard  or  gaff.  The  way  in  which  this  tye  is 
''clapped  on,"  i.e.  attached  to  the  block  of  the  tackle 
used  by  our  Deal  boatmen  for  hoisting  their  lugsails, 
is  exactly  the  same  as  that  used  by  Spanish  fishermen 
for  the  tye-block  of  their  heavy  lateen-yards. 

Vangs.  Eopes  extending  from  the  mizzen-peak  to 
each  quarter.  The  sprit -main  sail  of  a  Thames  barge  is 
provided  with  a  very  stout  pair  of  vangs  to  steady  it 
and  keep  it  from  sagging  too  far  over  to  leeward. 

Veer.     To  turn  a  ship  before  the  wind. 

Viol.  Another  name  for  the  messenger,  probably 
from  its  passing  through  a  large  block,  not  unlike  a 
bass-viol  in  size  and  shape,  which  was  called  a  viol- 


326  OLD   SEA   WINGS,   WAYS,  AND   WORDS, 

block,  and  was  lashed  to  the  mainmast  as  a  lead  for  the 
messenger  (see  Messenger). 

Waft.  A  signal  made  from  the  stern  of  a  ship  by 
hoisting  the  ensign,  tied  up  into  a  long  roll,  to  the  top 
of  the  staff  or  to  the  mizzen-peak,  used  especially  as 
a  signal  of  recall  for  boats. 

Waist-cloths.  The  tarpaulin  coverings  of  the 
hammocks  stowed  in  the  waist-nettings. 

Waisters.  Men,  usually  the  strongest  landsmen, 
employed  on  the  waist-deck  in  working  ship,  having 
little  else  to  do  but  pull  and  haul  ropes. 

Wales.  Thick  planks  going  the  whole  length  of  a 
ship.  The  "main- wales,"  those  below  the  line  of  lower- 
deck  posts.  The  "  channel-wales,"  or  "  chain- wales," 
those  between  the  top  of  the  lower-deck  posts  and  the 
bottom  of  those  of  the  upper  deck. 

Whip.  A  tackle,  or  lead,  formed  of  a  rope  and  single 
stationary  block,  or  of  one  fixed  and  another  movable 
block ;  used  mostly  for  hoisting  light  bodies  quickly. 
The  "  whip-staff"  was  probably  so  named  from  a  tackle 
of  this  kind  being  used  in  connection  with  it  and  the 
tiller. 

Whip-staff.  A  piece  of  wood  attached  to  the  helm 
or  tiller,  and  held  by  the  steersman.  Before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  more  modern  steering-wheel,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  connection 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  OAK  AND  HEMP.        327 

between  a  big  ship's  long  tiller,  which  came  in  upon 
her  lower  deck,  was  made  by  means  of  an  upright  staff 
connected  with  the  tiller,  and  passing  up  to  the  steer- 
age or  space  under  the  fore-part  of  the  quarter-deck. 
How  this  long  vertical  staff  acted  upon  the  tiller 
in  ships  of  two  or  more  decks,  is  not  very  clear,  unless 
it  took  the  form  of  a  Spanish  windlass,  acting  upon 
the  tiller  by  means  of  tackles  upon  the  lower  deck  ; 
the  upper  end  of  the  staff  being  then  turned  about  by 
a  smaller  cross-bar  passing  horizontally  through  it. 
In  many  small  vessels,  like  the  Thames  barge  or 
Dutch  galliot,  still  steered  by  large  tillers,  the  upright 
pin  or  handle  which  passes  through  the  end  of  the 
tiller  is  evidently  a  rudimentary  form  of  the  old  whip- 
staff. 

Winding  a  call.  Piping  an  order  through  a  boat- 
swain's whistle. 

Windlass.  This  machine  for  heaving  up  an  anchor 
was  formerly  used  only  in  merchant-vessels  or  carracks, 
a  general  name  for  the  smaller  single-decked  class  of 
old  sea-going  ships  ;  hence  I  believe  the  name  carrick- 
bitts,  given  to  the  stout  timbers  supporting  the  windlass. 

Wingers.  Small  casks  stowed  close  to  the  side  of 
a  ship's  hold  where  larger  ones  would  raise  the  tier  of 
casks  too  high.  The  hold  of  a  modern  ship,  being 
almost  flat  or  level,  does  not  require  this  arrangement. 


328  OLD   SEA  WINGS,    WAYS,   AND   WOKDS. 

Worming.  Winding  small  rope  spirally  about  a 
cable  or  rigging  so  as  to  fill  the  interval  between  the 
strands  in  order  that  what  was  called  the  "  service  " 
might  lie  smooth  and  round  over  it. 

Xebec.  A  small  three-masted  vessel  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, which  in  fine  weather,  with  a  fair  wind, 
carried  one  or  two  very  large  squaresails  ;  these,  when 
close-hauled,  were  replaced  by  large  lateen-sails, 
which  in  turn  made  way  for  smaller  ones  in  foul 
weather.  Great  overhang,  both  of  prow  and  stern, 
was  a  marked  feature  of  the  xebec,  which  usually 
mounted  from  sixteen  to  twenty-four  guns,  with  from 
three  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  men. 


FINIS. 


.- 


PRINTED   BY   WILLIAM   CLOWES   AND   SONS,    LIMITED,    LONDON    AND   BECCLES. 


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